Hartzell received STC approval for installation of a new composite five-blade propeller on every variant of the Pilatus PC-12 turboprop single. The prop maker, revealing the news last month at the NBAA Convention, says that the owner of a PC-12 fitted with the new prop can expect to see a five-knot improvement in cruise speed, a 50-foot reduction in takeoff roll and a 10-percent quicker climb to a cruise altitude of FL280. The new composite prop, despite having one more blade, is seven pounds lighter than the aluminum four-blader it replaces, and it is now standard equipment on new PC-12s.
Two-and-a-half years in the making, the new PC-12 prop shares the distinctive scimitar blades, stainless-steel shank, nickel-cobalt leading edge and stainless-steel mesh erosion screen of the five-blader certified on the Daher TBM series of turboprop singles but it is larger, with a diameter of 105 inches to absorb more power and pull more airplane than is required of the TBM’s 90-inch prop. It also has “a completely different airfoil section,” Hartzell executive v-p JJ Frigge told AIN.
The PC-12 is one of four aircraft programs that have adopted Hartzell’s five-blade props, joining the TBMs and (to be STC’d early next year) the Piper Meridian M500 and the Raisbeck-modified Beech King Air 350. Hartzell is heartened by TBM owners’ enthusiastic adoption rate: it has already delivered 150 composite five-bladers, for 20-percent penetration of the TBM fleet. At some 1,300 aircraft, the PC-12 fleet is larger.
“We work best when we partner with the OEM on a prop for the current production version, then we work alone on obtaining STCs to equip the legacy fleet,” said Frigge.
The Swiss airplane’s power ratings range from the original’s 1,000 shp to 1,200 shp, making the current PC-12/47 NG the most powerful application yet for the Hartzell five-blade prop in the business aviation fleet. (The M500 packs 500 shp, TBMs have up to 850 shp and the King Air 350 has 1,050 shp each side.)
The new PC-12 prop costs $83,640, including ice protection, and Hartzell offers a trade-in allowance of $15,000 on the original Hartzell aluminum prop, for a net price of $68,640.
Market in Flat Pitch
As go the GAMA shipments, so goes Hartzell’s business for the most part, and so far this year demand for props for new aircraft has been down by 10 to 12 percent on 2014. The first quarter this year was soft, recalled Frigge, with shipments of new piston and turboprop-powered aircraft down 15 to 20 percent year over year. “The second quarter was closer to flat, and it left the first half of this year down about 10 to 12 percent,” he added. “More roads are being built in South America, and the greater accessibility they provide means there’s less need for spraying by agricultural aircraft. Air Tractor and Thrush are down, but then you have companies like Daher bringing new technology [the TBM 900] to the market and you see them winning. They’re on pace to do 50 aircraft this year after doing the same number last year.
“We had a slow start this year in the aftermarket business, perhaps because of the long winter in the U.S.,” said Frigge, “but the repair business is picking up and flight hours have been up or stable for the past four to six months.”
The exchange rate is creating headwinds for American OEMs selling in Europe, Frigge emphasized. “The euro has come down so far that for Europeans it means a 20- to 30-percent price increase on a U.S.-made aircraft. But the U.S. domestic market is relatively steady and stable.”
Last year Hartzell shipped close to 3,800 props to OEMs and to airplane owners replacing or upgrading, exceeding the recent average of 3,500 a year. Frigge said Hartzell has benefited financially from the move to composite blades, which command higher prices than aluminum blades. In the past year or so the company has added more robotics for metal cutting to raise quality and capacity, and to boost production of composites “pretty significantly” processes have been changed and people and a new press added.
In the horsepower band it serves (80 hp to 2,200 shp), Hartzell retains a market share of about 80 percent.
