Hartzell Certifies Swept Propeller for TBM

The company claims that the takeoff acceleration from zero to 90 knots is improved by 10 percent compared with any other available propeller, climb rates are 100 feet-per-minute greater and cruise speeds two knots faster than the four-blade prop and five knots faster than the five-blade wood props previously available for the airplane.

One of Hartzell's corporate pilots, Mike McCorkle, said the climb performance of the company's TBM 700 now closely matches the 850's. "Coming out of Coeur d'Alene, we went straight up to 27,000 feet in only 16 and a half minutes with [a] temperature eight degrees above standard," McCorkle said. "That's an average of nearly 1,500 feet-per-minute, and we shaved at least a couple of minutes off of our normal time to climb."

The new propeller will be available as a supplemental type certificate retrofit for the TBMs. STC approval is expected in the first quarter of next year. The cost for the propeller through Hartzell's Top Prop Conversion program is $65,000, less $9,000 trade in. Installation and rigging is expected to take three to four hours. The STC'd propeller will also be available through Daher-Socata's distributor network.

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