Prop Balancing Aerobatic and Race Planes at Cilliers Aviation

Warren Cilliers owns Cilliers Aviation, a maintenance business in Palatka, Florida, where he works primarily on aerobatic airplanes, such as the Extra 330SC. He also travels the world as  technician for Michael Goulian and Team 99, as Goulian competes in the Red Bull Air Race World Championship.  In both endeavors, Cilliers uses a DynaVibe Classic to perform dynamic propeller balancing. “Definitely used the DynaVibe and it’s really helped us out,” says Cilliers.

​In the past year, Cilliers estimates he has used DynaVibe to complete 40 prop balances. “That's without advertising,” says Cilliers. “It's really just my customers that come through my shop and word of mouth in the area. It's been great.”

An Extra race plane in Cilliers' shop set up for balancing with DynaVibe.

Cilliers understands the preventative maintenance benefits of keeping propellers balanced: “It's obviously very important on any aircraft, not only aerobatic airplanes, for fatigue and wearing of parts, gears in the engine, magnetos, everything, even going down to fatigue on the airframe, with vibration and cracks on the aluminum and things like that.” Because of the benefits, dynamic balancing with DynaVibe has become a standard procedure Cilliers does for his customers. “It's so easy to work. I've got it down to an art now, where I can just take it out in my ground run, and just balance it for them. They really appreciate it.”
 
Cilliers is getting great results from balancing with DynaVibe that his customers can feel.  “I've never had any negative report back from any customer. Whenever I do a balance, even if it's not as much out-of-balance [to start with] – where I think the customer would not even feel it – they always report back that they notice a difference.”
 
Customers feel the difference and get the benefits of Cillier’s balancing work.  With DynaVibe, the balancing process is easy and the payback on the investment in the balancing equipment has been excellent. “The simplicity of DynaVibe makes it easy. It's been great, and well worth the $1,600 that I've spent. I've probably paid for it about 10 times already, so I’m very, very pleased with it.”