A Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) has been approved to replace McCauley propellers on Mooney M20M/TLS/Bravo series single-engine aircraft with Hartzell Propeller’s 75-inch diameter three-bladed aluminum props. Airplanes covered by the STC are powered by TIO-540-AF1A and TIO-540-AF1B Turbocharged Lycoming Sabre engines.
“Installing Hartzell’s Scimitar-style prop covered by this STC delivers 8-10 percent improvement in climb performance, a 2-3 knot increase in cruise, and looks terrific on the ramp coupled with Mooney’s signature tail,” said Hartzell President JJ Frigge. “And it has the Hartzell Top Prop 2,400 hour, 6 -year time between overhaul, and warranty until first overhaul,” he added. The Hartzell Propeller Top Prop kit, HC-I3YF-1RF/F7498-1, is available for $15,839 and includes a propeller, all-composite spinner assembly and STC documentation. Additionally, a TKS ice protection kit is available at an additional charge, while electric de-ice approval is pending.
Through the years, about 10,000 Mooney airplanes have been equipped with Hartzell props. One of the launch platforms of the first Hartzell two-blade compact aluminum propellers in the early 1960s was the Mooney M20C. Through the decades, the M20 airframe was improved with the addition of metal wings, generations of avionics advances, fuselage stretches, increased gross weights and more horsepower.
