An Article about New England Propeller Division and their New Blade
Article by Nicholas E Silitch of Private Pilot Magazine

IN THE BOOM DAYS of aviation, McCauley Propeller was bought by Cessna Aircraft Company and became part of the Cessna aviation empire. Like other aviation manufacturers, McCauley expanded at the height of the boom, and in the 1970s moved its production from downtown Dayton to a shiny new facility at the James M. Cox Dayton International Airport. The new factory was designed with the most modern production technology and the capacity to carry McCauley well into the 21st century. But just about the time that McCauley finished moving in and everybody got used to all the space and new-fangled high-production machinery and computerized facilities, the boom days were over. Then Cessna, McCauley's parent and best customer, decided to get out of the piston-engine airplane business, and McCauley was stuck with an expensive, brand-new and very big factory. And a very small market. Worse yet, that market consisted of a few small OEMs and the relatively insignificant replacement market. In the boom days, McCauley had spent most of its time and earned most of its money filling Cessna's orders, but now there were a variety of customers, all of whom had to be sold.

But all wasn't lost, for while McCauley was trying to get used to its new, almost nonexistent market, US Propeller Services, a large propeller shop headquartered in the unlikely location of East Haddam, Connecticut, had been inventing a new market. Like most prop shops, US Propeller's primary business was repairing, rebuilding and overhauling propellers. Though it also sold new propellers and parts, sales were mostly parts. Whole propeller sales were limited to those few unfortunates whose propeller, for one reason or another, had to be scrapped. Then, in 1989, a customer asked Artie D'Onofrio, US Propeller's president, if he could put a McCauley three-blade propeller on his Piper Arrow 200. "I don't think you can do that," was D'Onofrio's response, "but I'll look into it." D'Onofrio looked into it, and a year later had an STC for a three-blade propeller on a Piper Arrow. Unfortunately, like most things in aviation, it wasn't that simple. Certification of the propeller for the Lycoming 360 required McCauley to do a $10,000 vibration test, a cost that it wasn't willing to eat for an order of less than 50 propellers. D'Onofrio mulled it over and, loath to part with 510,000, made his decision. "I'll take 50," he told McCauley. Shortly thereafter, the specially designed, manufactured and expensively vibration-tested propellers arrived in East Haddam, and D'Onofrio's check for $300,000 arrived in Dayton. The only problem was that the STC didn't go quite as smoothly as planned (nothing new here), and eight months later, D'Onofrio still had a stack of propellers in his warehouse, was still out $300,000 and was still working on obtaining the STC.

All the parts-except the bearings-in these propellers were unique. "I was sweating a little," admitted D'Onofrio, those propellers and parts were useless for any other application. If I couldn't get the STC, I was in trouble." But D'Onofrio got the STC, and the rest is propeller history. Really history, for US Propeller is in the process of completely changing the economics of the propeller business. The effect is most noticeablc in the sales of new propellers. US Propeller's STC'd conversion kits cost (on the average) $5995, including the propeller and polished spinner. less trade-in for the old propeller, which can he as high as $2000. Because three new blades for a McCauley threaded propeller can easily run more than $6000, buying a new propeller is usually cheaper than rebuilding an old one. Today, more than half of McCauley's production is sold through US Propeller. Less obvious is the reaction that sales of new propellers havc had on the rebuilding market, for the traded-in propellers have been turned into a surplus of once-rare used rebuilding parts. Good used blades and hubs-parts usually damaged in accidents and therefore unobtainable except new from the manufacturer-are now available in the used market. This has reduced the need for new and very expensive replacenient parts aud has made rebuilding propellers much cheaper than it was a few years ago. Presumably. McCauley is happy with the arrangement. which results in selling fewer parts and more new propellers. US Propeller didn't work up its present volume of new propeller sales selling conversions just to Arrow owners. As soon as it got that STC, it started working on a three-blade conversion for the Mooney. It now has STCs for more than 65 models of airplanes and is still working on more. Presently. its conversions favor under-200-hp engines. but a recent STC for a new three-blade for the Continental IO520 in the Cessna 206 should be considered a harbinger for US Propeller's future course. US Propeller has branches in Tampa, Florida'. Greensboro. North Carolina'. Dayton, Ohio; and San Carlos. California. It rebuilds more than 200 propellers a month-McCauley, Hartzell, Sensenich. Hamilton-Standard and Dowty-Rotol-and sells about half that many. The most popular reason for converting from a two-blade to a three-blade propeller is that it looks better. but in addition to the esthetics, there are some other differences that can make a switch attractive. Three-blade propellers generally have a slightly better climb and slightly slower cruise than their two-blade equivalents. hut these differences are seldom large enough to be really noticeable. The most noticeable difference is the three-blade's distinct advantage in smoothness and noise reduction. This is coupled with improved ground clearance in installations, which means less propeller damage from stones and less chance of a ground strike.

Another practical advantage of the three- blade is reduced maintenance. This comes from the reduced rotational stresses from the shorter blades, which can make a real difference, particularly if the conversion is replacing one of those troublesome 'dreaded threaded" two-blade propellers with blades more than 82 inches long. These blades have had a history of problems and a three-blade replacement (either in a threaded or new style) can result in real long-term savings. Particular installations can have even more advantages. The reduced diameter of the three-blade conversion on a Cessna 185 floatplane eliminates water damage due to the reduction in diameter and eliminates the noise problems associated with water-borne 185s by reducing the tip speeds. This keeps the blade tips from going supersonic at takeoff horsepower. which is what causes the infamous 185 whine. In addition, the increased climb performance, however marginal, is always appreciated in a water airplane. The idea of STC'ing propeller swaps wasn't originated by US Propeller-the idea has been around for some time-it is just the first to go into it in such a big way. Previously, STCs were done on a piecemeal basis to solve real or imagined specific problems and usually were connectcd with some other modifications. Examples are the 185 three-blade conversion, which is a P.K. STC designed specifically to improve the airplane's performance with the installation of P.K. floats, or RAM Aircraft's three-blade Hartzell conversion for the big Cessna twins, which is usually performed in conjunction with other modifications. US Propeller's efforts aren't the only recent change in the propeller business. Historically, McCauley has been the propeller supplier for Continental engines, with Hartzell putting its propellers on Lycomings. Now that Textron owns both McCauley (through their recent purchase of Cessna) and Lycoming, that's probably going to change. Hartzell, which just celebrated its 75th anniversary, is reacting to the threat from US Propeller and McCauley by buying outside Hartzell swap STCs, like the RAM one for the large Cessna twins, but at present it is not developing any of its own.