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Unread 03-14-10, 11:31 AM
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hharney hharney is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Michigan (8D4)
Posts: 2,254
hharney is on a distinguished road
I have 7 years on my MT's to date. Still love them and would do it again. I will be leaving for Deland, Florida in about a week to visit the US MT Prop facility. There my props will undergo a complete overhaul for a fresh new start. Estimates for the job are around $7K. Not too bad for both ends.

Like Cole described the benefits of the wood-composite blades are very noticeable in smoother operation and less vibration. This is primary due to the wood blades ability to absorb the common harmonics and vibrations of aircraft engines. Whereas the standard metal blades just can't decrease the waves but in some cases transfer it to the rest on the airframe. This vibration dampening with the MT's has been also noted in component life such as exhaust systems. After having this current aircraft for the last 34 years I just thought that having to repair the rear muffler every other annual was normal maintenance. Since having the MT's the frequency of repairs are more than 1/2 of what they used to be.

When I had the airplane painted last year I painted the rear blades, on the engine side, black. Much easier to maintain and no worry of all the cosmetic finish to maintain. I made a suggestion to MT about this and they were very interested because they had not thought about the position of this unit relative to the exhaust. The other benefit of the MT's is the new spinners. The design is much more pleasing and better materials.

All in all it's a winner. You have to replace both front and rear together so this is where most owners find it difficult because of the large cost factor. You won't be disappointed if you do it.

How about FOD on the rear? Has anyone had damage issues?
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Herb R Harney
1968 337C

Flying the same Skymaster for 47 years
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