Customer Testimonials

Hi John:
We have now owned all three of the performance props that are certified for the Cessna 206...Hartzel wide, McCauley long and now MT crooked (sexy).

They all have unique qualities. Without writing a book lets say the MT is the most interesting. First the basics: based on around thirty hours of, in the trenches, flight time we believe that takeoff thrust for the MT is equal to or better than the McCauley big foot 86"er. That is quite a feat in itself. Cruse is about five knots faster at equal power settings.

With that out of the way we also experienced some other interesting features. MT has almost no prop whine up to about 2550 RPM. "Love thy neighbor." It is smooth as advertised...unusually so through the lower power (RPM) settings unlike its metal counterparts. What is most interesting, however, is what happens at the lower cruise settings. Think about this:...2400 rpm, 20 inches MP at nine gallons per hr LOP equals 115 kts at GW on floats and 125 kts on wheels. Caution: we have not checked the effect of long term use at these settings on oil consumtion problems due to the unloading of piston rings. But, one can most assuredly use this uncommon "gift" to stretch endurance on extra long "with reserves" flights or (for those who loiter from time to time) to save more than a few dollars.

Granted, thirty hours does not a TBO make. All we can say is, So far so good.

John,
We have our 180 in the air now with a Texas Skyways O-520 and the 3 Blade MT. We couldn’t be happier. Take Off and climb is vastly improved. I did a trip last week with a 185 C; ours is a 180J. He had a new IO 520D, we had a new O-520. We both had Sportsman STOL Kits. Same full loads and fuel. He had an 82" 2 blade Mac. We were consistently getting off 50-60 metres (180 odd feet) before him. Only difference was the props.

Hi John,
Sorry that I have not contacted you sooner with performance information. But sickness of the pilot, worn spark plugs and improperly set up magnetos delayed a conclusive test flight. Finally, last week I was able to make that test flight in similar conditions to the ones I had made with the Hartzell prop. Since my Bonanza is turbo normalized, I make all tests at 12.500 feet, wide open throttle at 2500 rpm, lean of peak at 16.1 gph, which equals to 80% power. The best value I got from the Hartzell prop was 191 knots true air speed. The MT, under similar conditions, gave me 196 knots true air speed.

The conditions were: pressure altitude 12.500 feet, OAT minus 1 degrees C, indicated air speed 162 kts, calibrated air speed 160 kts, true air speed 196 kts. This was clearly 5 KTS FASTER than the Hartzell. Add to this better take off and better climb, plus less vibration, and I could not be happier with the MT prop. I hope this information helps you, since not all Bonanzas are turbo normalized using your prop.

Smooth as silk, strong as an Ox.

You can quote me. Runs fabulous at 2150 or 2200 with 21 inches, fast economical, and like a sewing machine.

More detailed info when I have more time in it. I recommend it to everyone, Husky or Scout, or whatever!

John,
Sorry for the slow response. I finally got a chance to go flying. From home (N86) to Lodi for breakfast to KOAK. Went to the A's game and watched my kid play the Star Spangled Banner. Then to BLU for the really sporty crosswinds and back home. Take off roll is shorter, climb rate at sea level is spectacular, true airspeed is an easy 5 kts faster And the 27lb. weight at station -40 was just what the W&B needed. Your follow up is outstanding.
Thanks!

BTW the 30 ugly lbs. off the nose solved my forward CG problem. Most C180 C182 could really benefit from the weight reduction. Talk to you soon.

John,
Installed MT prop yesterday 4-26. It showed up while I was in Utah. Too bad I didn’t get to try it in some real backcountry strips. Anyhow, install was a breeze and first flight was uneventful. First impressions are: It pulls hard. Very noticeable. It's noisier in a lower frequency than my old Hartzell. The speed-brake effect is gone so I'll have to adjust my technique. Checking TAS at altitude was not possible due to wind but I'm sure it's faster. First landing was at Stead (4SD) on RW08. Landed full stop and took off again before the hash marks. Outstanding! I'm going to get it balanced real soon.

John,
STC packet was in my mail box. Got the prop installed and went for a test flight. Serious difference in the smoothness and acceleration. More later…

We're running a 2 blade MT on a '54 with a J and its early days but so far its doing all we hoped, smooth, strong, light, quieter. We also find that the prop "cycles" a lot more quickly then the conventional, and I don't wait on full coarse for the rpm to start to drop as it really "bites" quickly.
Nice Prop.

Good afternoon Gentlemen,
I had an opportunity to fly for 2.5 hours yesterday and knew you would be interested in a little information and my comments regarding my 1967 C-182K Skylane. As you know it has a stock 0-470 with 270 Hours since zero time rebuild.

Rod installed his F. A. T. (Forced Aeromotive Technologies) Supercharger in December. In January, we installed a new MT Composite two bladed prop. Before the installs, max climb was about 800- 900 FPM w/ the conditions below. These two installs have Doubled the R.O.C.

All I can say is; WOW! With the Supercharger installed it will maintain 28” Hg Manifold Pressure well above 12,000 ft (That’s as high as I’ve flown it since the install).
Since the new Prop install two weeks ago, I haven’t had a lot of flight time, but here are the results from my flights yesterday:

• Columbus, NE (OLU) – 1460’ MSL
• 46-54 Degrees F
• Pressure: 28.4
• 420# - 2 Ft Seat Passengers
• 468# - 78 Gal Fuel
• 170# - Baggage Compartment
• Max Climb: 28" Hg Manifold Press
• 90+ MPH
2650 RPM Prop Speed (not yet dynamically balanced but runs as smooth as silk)

Climbs at 1600 Feet Per Minute on takeoff up to 4,000 ft MSL – (conservative) This aircraft flies and performs better than other Skylanes I know of (in my very limited experience). It is even more responsive to the throttle with the new prop (due to the 19# lighter weight I assume) and much quieter at 2400 RPM or less. One really has to fly it to believe it…

you would like any further information, please let me know. I haven’t taken it cross country with the new prop yet but, I know it will be great. The Supercharger/Propeller combination is awesome!

Thank you gentlemen for the great products and service. This airplane may turn out to be one of the safest and fastest 182’s around. An ideal cross country aircraft for my wife Renae and I.

My Best Regards.

Thanks for sending the docs. The aircraft flies like a turbine: quiet, smooth, and vibration free. It climbs like a home-sick angel. Cruise is very quiet & probably at least 5 knots faster. I've decided to keep the painted spinner {I like it very much}. Thanks again for the great prop.

First impressions:

Compared to the stock 2-blade Hartzell, this prop is LIGHT. (saved almost 15 lbs off the nose, which adds nicely to my useful load.) There is much less of a flywheel effect, so RPM changes are a little faster, such as when starting up and adjusting throttle for idle speed. Climb is significantly improved (have seen sustained 1400fpm), cruise speed appears comparable and possible a couple of knots slower, but I need to do more flying to confirm that. (Just got the plane back yesterday!) First tests are yielding approximately 152kts TAS, and prior prop was yielding about 154kts TAS in similar conditions. I'll do more flying to confirm this, and report back.

The single best improvement it offers is a dramatic reduction in noise and vibration- much, much smoother, and definitely quieter. This is going to be a whole lot less fatiguing on long trips. It sounds more like a fan.

Another nice thing is that it is easier to decelerate on approach and final- the three blade creates a little more drag when you pull the throttle. (Nice for convenient landings, not sure what I think about that with respect to glide ratio with an engine failure...)

Also, there are no RPM range restrictions for this prop, so I tested it at different RPMs to see if I could feel any more vibration, and it's smooth all the way through the range. Another convenience over the Hartzell!

Lastly, it looks cool... :-)

In all, I'm pretty happy with it. It pulls stronger in climb, and the smoothness is amazing- it will be easy to live with.

I installed the propeller and flew it today. It is smoother, and it seems like the aircraft has 20 more horsepower for take-off. I haven't had it in cruise yet, but I doubt that I could tell any difference.

The lighter weight (less rotational inertia) gives it much quicker response to throttle changes. It is very responsive.

I hope it continues this way for many years.

I own the 200 HP with MT that Steve Pierce has flown. I also owned a 180 A1B with 76" Hartzell. The difference is phenomenal. I know that 200 HP helps, but the real deal is how smooth the MT is and there are no RPM limitations in the middle of the spectrum. My airplane would not be a good one to judge speed on since I have 31" ABW and Baby Bushwheel tailwheel. Steve is in process of installing AOSS on it now too. I am sure that it will slow down a bit more. At 23.5" and 2350 RPM, 70 OAT, 2000' MSL the indicated airspeed at near gross weight is 112 MPH. I think the 31's cost me about 5-6 MPH versus the 26" GY's that I had on it. With 8.50's it might be another 1-2 quicker. The bottom line for me is that the MT is great. On short final when you pull the power, it is all gone and right now. There is very little flywheel effect from this prop since it is so light. Flywheel energy is typically described as WR2, Weight * radius, squared. The weight being so light compared to a metal prop it is easy to see why the energy dissipates so quickly.

I've operated a couple MT props on Brand H airplanes (180 hp, CS). I love em!! They are light, as Steve said, they spool up and slow down quick, so they work really well as an airbrake to slow on final.

I worked on a LOT on floats, and water erosion is a non issue. Same with deep snow, which can grind up a metal prop. The stainless leading edge really takes 90 % of the abuse, and it's replaceable, though you'd have to really thrash it before it needed replacement.

A few of the early ones exhibited some leading edge separation, and a few had a few small cracks in the tip. A few others leaked a bit. All of these that I'm aware of were repaired at no cost to the owners, so customer service has been good.

Try sending your Hartzell in for warranty repairs, by the way. They'll condemn yours in a few years with an AD, like they have with two of mine, and give you a "special deal" on a replacement. It's called limiting liability, methinks.

MT props work good, they hold up well, and they'll be close to 20 pounds lighter than that 80 inch. I presume you're not using the harmonic damper, since you have the balanced engine?? If you're using a damper assy, you'll actually save ~30 pounds with the MT.

Oh, yeah, and they pull like a tugboat....

I went with the MTV-15-B-205-58 with 80" blades. I found the 84" Hartzell was a little too close to the ground when the plane was level. As for weight, I saved about 20lbs off the nose. As for performance, it feels a lot different than an aluminum prop. You don't have the momentum when you cut the power and it is easy to slow the plane down. It is a lot quieter and my take off and climb performance is better. If you are going to buy an MT let me know and I will put you onto the best guy around who knows his MT's. Great people to deal with and I checked around.

Larry,
Since Installing the MT on my Husky I have put 43 hours on it…here’s the summary of the testing:
Cruise Conditions:
23”/2000rpm 7000’ 110 KTAS @ 7.2gph.
Hartzell in same conditions 104 KTAS.
Climb:
8000’ FT/2400 800fpm
10,000’ FT/2000 600fpm
13,000’ FT/2000 500fpm
Closed Throttle Descent (best glide)
Low pitch 1200fpm
High Pitch 700fpm (Hartzell 500fpm)

The MT Propeller:

• Is smoother than the Hartzell at all rpm’s. You can even feel the difference on taxi. It loves low rpm’s, even down to 1800.
• On my ship produced about a 6% speed increase at cruise conditions
• Produced an estimated at least 20% better rate of climb.
• Idles smoothly at 450rpm.
• If indexed for horizontal compression, is easy to hand prop.
• Has no inertia problems on starting.
• Leaked a bit of grease for the first three hours, has been squeaky dry since.
• Will hunt a bit at high power, but after a while it’s unnoticeable.
• Reacts faster than the Hartzell to power changes.
• Improved spot landing performance.
• Shortens take-off distance 50’ to 100
• Looks good, gets noticed.
• Is the best thing I’ve done for my Husky in 16 years!

This will be our fifth season of running MT props in the off airport environment on multiple Husky aircraft, and dings have not been an issue for us. The stainless leading edge does a great job of protecting the prop from any reasonable damage.

John
I have only flown with the new prop twice. It is awesome, lots of pull. It sure is nice to not have the RPM limits any more.

Thanks.

I am enjoying the MT. The most notable change is the climb performance. When climbing at altitude (say changing from level flight at 6000 and going to 8000), an increase in RPM on the 403 would generate more noise than performance. The MT just pulls. I’m fairly conservative about determining whether or not there has been an increase in the top end. My observation is that I’m able to maintain a given IAS with less RPM’s after this conversion. This is with similar temperatures. So, I would venture to say yes, but I would not be willing to attach a figure to it

I tested the 88 inch Mac and the two blade MT on the same day with our ‘62 C185 with the IO-520 and the MT two blade substantially out performed the 88 inch Mac in climb to 1,000, 2,000, 3,000, 4,000 and 5,000 feet. I am especially interested in the three blade MT with our 550 conversion on this plane.

Larry/John,
I wanted to let you know I got the prop hung on my Sukhoi, and it’s absolutely amazing. The additional thrust is so much better. Thanks again for your help. I’ll make sure to refer business your direction if anyone is looking for a prop.

Larry
Just wanted to let you know how the new MT propeller is doing on my Husky. I installed it on Dec. 14th right after the STC came through. I have only been able to fly it 10 hours due to the terrible weather we have been having here, but so far I would say it is the best mod I have done to my Husky. Here is a list of the really positive changes.

1. 18.5 lbs off the nose has completely changed the handling characteristics, no more running out of elevator on landing with power off and no weight in the back. The CG with the Hartzell without a lot of weight in the rear was right at the forward limit. With the MT prop it is a couple of inches aft of the forward limit right where it should be. I was a little concerned that I might run into problems with aft CG with a passenger and 50 lbs in the baggage area, but after running the numbers I would really have to work at it to get out of the rear CG limit.
2. The climb performance is remarkably better. No question this is eye watering.
3. The removal of the 2000-2250 rpm restriction is a big help during slow flight. Seems that range is where you always need the power at 60 mph with flaps.
4. . Much smoother operation. I took your advice and tried the reduced RPM (i.e. 2100 rpm and 21 in. mp) really a nice smooth power setting with 100 kts true and 7.2 gph.
5. T/O performance is improved, but is a bit hard to say how much as the Husky get airborne so quickly in the sub zero weather we have had. Warm temps at the 5500' elevation of my strip will really tell the tale. Once you break ground it is the climb that is so noticeably improved.
6. . This one really surprised me, speed control on approach is much better. I always had trouble slowing the Husky to approach speed with out pulling the power way back which I don't like to do (shock cooling). With this longer prop bringing the power back to 1900 -2000 rpm and it slows right back to flap speed. Get the flaps down pull the power back a little more and down she comes.

I really haven't found anything negative about the change to the MT prop. I would not have a Husky without it! Thanks!

Regards

Larry,
You were right, the MT is a great improvement over the metal Hartzell. I have quicker take-off, more vertical and feel much safer. Thanks again.

Hi Larry,
What an improvement! The MT is much lighter than the Hartzell, accelerates quicker, is better for take-off and gives me more control and shorter landings. Thanks!

Larry,
Just a note to tell you how well the prop is working and how performance it’s added to my 182. The take-off and climb are better, the cruise is faster and quieter and the smoothness is hard to describe…you can use me for a reference anytime.

Larry,
I love the prop! If any of your potential customers need any performance or general questions answered have them call m

Larry,
There is absolutely no comparison between the performance of my Husky before and after installing the MT. If anyone is considering changing to the MT and is undecided, I would be happy to give them a demonstration, they would be impressed!