Ground Adjustable Propellers Back In Production After Nearly 70 Years

Aviators and aviatrixes are celebrating! MT-Propeller today announced the availability of its new 5400-Series of 2-blade ground adjustable aluminum propellers for vintage aircraft. The new propellers are reconstructions of ground adjustable propellers made by the famous Standard Steel Propeller Company (later Hamilton Standard) manufactured from 1925 through 1945. This type of propeller, used primarily on vintage aircraft, has been out of production for decades, making the propellers scarce.

Gerd Muehlbauer, president of MT-Propeller said, “While MT-Propeller is known for what may be considered more ‘modern’ propeller designs, we recognized the important role we could play in keeping vintage aircraft flying and safe. We are pleased to offer these new ground adjustable blades and completely new hubs.”
 
The newly produced and certificated propellers are typically used on radial engines of up to 450 h.p. at 2,300 r.p.m. and in diameters of between 7 and 10 feet. There are three different blade model designations 1C1, A1C1 and A11C1, each available in different lengths. The blades mate with one of two newly manufactured steel propeller hubs: models 5404 and 5406 (SAE 20 & SAE 30 spline).
 
The project to bring these propellers back into production was started nearly ten years ago by Greg Herrick, President of the Aviation Foundation of America, Inc. According to Herrick, “We recognized the importance of finding someone to put these propellers back into production as the supply of used blades, some over 80 years old, began to dwindle. We are grateful to MT-Propeller for making this possible. Having newly manufactured blades available is an important part of keeping the world’s fleet of vintage aircraft in the air and flying safely.”
 
The new hubs and blades are useful on a wide variety of radial engine powered aircraft including many famous names such as Boeing, Ford, Stearman, Travel Air and WACO. The new hubs and blades carry FAA Type Certificate Number P32BO.

FMI: www.mt-propellerUSA.com