Fixed pitch props : cruise vs. climb for aerobatics

[volvo164]

I have an old 7ECA (115HP) with the standard pitch prop 72-46. As I have new cylinders on - it actually climbs quite well! However I really have to pull the power back in cruise (on East Coast) and feel that I could benefit from a cruise pitch (72-50) since I do a lot of cross country. I was also wondering about aerobatics : as is, this thing spins up to redline in a jiffy. So I'm wondering if a cruise prop wouldn't actually help with acro - since it would give a faster top speed, perhaps making it a bit less fiddly to manage. I'm guessing it really won't make a difference in vertical maneuvers, but certainly take more time to climb back up to altitude between them in practice. Thoughts? Wish there was a ground adjustable prop for these!

 

[Bartman]

My 7ECA has the same prop, 72-46. My friend Kurt and I took it out yesterday with midday temps in the 90's and 16 gallons of fuel. I'm 195, he's more like 170 and we were only getting 500 to 600 fpm climbing to 3500 at 70 mph. It was fine considering the conditions but I wouldn't want it to be less than that in the climb and I'd guess more pitch will do that. If you do it, let us know how it works out!