For the Mitsu tribe, what are thoughts, consensus on the MT props on this airplane? Good, bad, ugly? I think they look awesome so in my opinion not ugly. Any penalties? Life expectancy? Any horror stories?

Air First here in good ole Aiken does some of the conversions, in my opinion it turns a 50 year old plane into something that looks much newer and faster. Don't know anything about how they perform....still really loud on the ramp....but that's Garretts for you.

Good luck!

Peace,
Don

Consensus seems to be

1) look awesome
2) moderately improved performance
3) not worth the $100K or whatever unless you're having to buy 8 new prob blades on the 4 blader

Yes, much noise is just the engines, but I believe the new MT props can alleviate the increased ground idle speed of the 4 blade props and set it back to original speed. AD ground idle is 72%, I don't recall older value but it is a bit less.

Like all prop upgrades, they are supposed to improve performance a smidge, reduce in flight noise a little and maybe reduce vibration a little. As Charles says, it is hard for me to justify spending the $100K unless I have to do blades on the 4 blade at overhaul time, then it starts to be a more realistic option.

Jon,

Seldom do props live up to performace hype from manufacturer, certainly the cost of reblading earlier props can weight the equation for replacement. Our experience with Other MT prop installations do not support lower maintenance. Specifically on the 331 installation it may take some time to build data but, in the long run I could see some benefit to quicker cooler starts on these engines due to lower mass of the MT prop.

Yeah, I am skeptical that performance changes much, though folks who have done the installations say they see a little better climb and no loss if not a slight pickup in cruise. I could see no loss in cruise being a reasonable performance gain with more blades.

For the MU2 4 blade Hartzell models (Marquise, Solitaire, P and N), there's an AD that requires a prop teardown inspection every 5 years (though recent AMOC available extends it to 7). If you overhaul, they reshape the blades, which has been common. After about 3-4 reshapings, the blades are scrap, at around $6K each. Which when you multiply times 8 blades, is not chump change.

The MT might then make sense because you also get rid of the AD on the Hartzells.

And yes, I've heard starts get a little quicker due to the lighter weight of the MTs. Hard to quantify how much benefit that results in.

If MT where willing to pursue the start temp reduction in start temp and could convince MSP to lower hourly cost due to it they could likely pump prop sales on the 331.