Hartzell Five-blade Prop OK'd with Finnoff PC-12 Upgrade

Hartzell Propeller has received an amended U.S. FAA STC for installation of its five-blade composite swept-tip propeller with the Finnoff Aviation 1,200-shp Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-67P engine upgrade for pre-NG Pilatus PC-12s. The five-blade propeller, which is now standard on factory-new PC-12NGs, replaces the four-blade Hartzell aluminum propeller that is standard equipment on legacy models of the Swiss-built turboprop single.

Brian Cleary, owner of Cleary Benefits Group and president of the Pilatus Owners & Pilots Association, was the first PC-12 customer to have the new Hartzell propeller installed in conjunction with the Finnoff engine conversion. “The five-blade has a lot more thrust in the takeoff roll and climb out,” he said. “The combination is really a transformation in many regards for the airplane.”

With the new five-blade Hartzell propeller, the 2016 PC-12NG cruises five knots faster, climbs to a cruise altitude of 28,000 feet 10 percent faster and has a 50-foot reduction in total takeoff distance. Its swept blades also reduce flyover and cabin noise, Hartzell said. List price for the new Pilatus PC-12 propeller is $83,640.

The five-blade propeller is also approved by EASA countries, Brazil, South Africa, Namibia, Russia and Canada, with approvals pending in Argentina and Mexico.