We’re all guilty at one point or another. There’s more to properly preflighting a prop than quickly running a finger along the leading edge of the blades to feel for imperfections. Moreover, if you do look closely at the prop before putting the power to it, do you really know what you’re looking at?
Walking away from my visit at Sensenich Propeller Services—and walking around my community hangar and eyeballing some pretty atrocious-looking props—has opened my eyes to the level of abuse our props endure. It’s ugly.