REFLECTOR: John the MT Man

[Andy Millin]

Hello John,

 

Welcome to the Reflector.  Thanks for taking the interest in the community
and having the desire to make sure we get good information.

 

You signed up, so I'm assuming you would like to contribute and have a
sincere desire to be helpful.

 

FWIW, and as you might have guessed, the MT propeller has been discussed by
the community in great detail.  As it has been the only real constant speed
option for a long time, there is a lot of experience here.

 

I do not own an MT propeller.  I have done a fair amount of research on
propellers for my Velocity.  The majority of my MT knowledge has come
directly from this community.  I have been very grateful for this. 

 

I am going to be a bit presumptuous here and give you a brief on MY
understanding of the MT propeller.

 

It was adopted for the Velocity because it was: 1) constant speed  2)
available in a pusher configuration and 3) light weight

 

At one point Whirlwind did make a prop that would work for the Velocity, but
stopped years ago.

 

By-and-large, there has been no other practical, constant speed option until
the Aero Composite prop hit the market.

 

Some, maybe many, MT owners are happy and/or satisfied.

 

More than a few are VERY critical of the prop and the company.  Their
experience has been that the prop is fragile.  A pusher is more susceptible
to FOD damage, and the MT doesn't take much to put it out of commission.

 

Some owners have had major problems with the seals in the hub.  MT has
blamed the owner for causing the problem.  I believe the prop was installed
and run per directions and it failed.  The company refused to accept any
responsibility and charged the owner for "repairs" that did not fix the
prop.  This is a major sore point here and is VERY uncool.

 

The prop is expensive.  It is expensive to buy.  It is expensive and time
consuming to have it repaired.  Again, aggravated by the experience that the
prop is fragile.

 

The Velocity factory is a dealer for MT.  They have gone out of their way to
make the MT propeller available to the community at the lowest possible
cost.  They are good people.

 

A few years ago I spoke with a gentleman at Hartzell about making a prop for
the Velocity.  They had made a pusher prop for Adam aircraft and were
willing to re-develop the prop for us.  They made the prop and Velocity
tested it.  Without modification (just the new prop) the plane was flat out
faster; the new blade was more efficient.  When MT learned of the result,
they became worried and made promises that they would improve their blade
and match the performance . not funny.  If they cared about us, they would
have been working on improving the product all along; not just under threat.

 

Hartzell found a harmonic problem with the engine/prop combination.  Sadly,
they withdrew from the program and the prop was never made available.  Just
as sad, MT did not come out with the promised new blade.  Apparently when
the competition went away so did their desire to improve.

 

Craig Catto and Lonnie Prince have been making fixed pitch props for pushers
for a long time.  They have a reputation of being damn near bullet proof.
We know a light, strong, efficient blade can be made.

 

The Aero Composite prop is expensive as well.  It is being viewed as a much
better value though.  It is tough.  It handles the FOD well, and it
performs.  All you have to do is shrug off one pebble and it has paid for
itself.  The MT might eat the pebble and cost you $6500 and down for six
weeks.

 

There are people on this list that have pulled their MT off and put on an
Aero Composite prop.  I don't think anyone has gone the other way.

 

I know I'm running the risk of getting flamed here.  I don't own the prop.
I've been on the reflector for 9 years now.  Experience varies.  There are
happy campers here and I hope they are willing to give their .02.  There are
people on this list that will tell you they have had $20,000 stolen from
them by MT.

 

This can be a very frank forum.  I have shared what I have learned here in a
true spirit of cooperation and openness.  Given this information, I would
very much like to hear what an MT representative has to say.  Honestly, all
we want is a good prop that is a good value.  If you can help people, good
for you and good for us.  Better still if you can do it in an open forum
such as this.

 

Please jump in!

 

Andy

=====================================

 

Andy Millin

amillin at sbcglobal.net

 

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