Three-Blade Propellers
After reading about three-blade prop upgrades in the April 2018 Aviation Consumer, I thought I would share my upgrade experience. After converting my elliptical prop tips to square tips by touching a runway at speed, I decided to change to a three-blade prop for my Mooney 231—not for the looks—but to have less noise and vibration without a performance penalty.
The change was from the standard two-blade McCauley to a three-blade McCauley Black Magic. While I considered an MT composite and also a Hartzell, I saw no compelling reason to buy them. The three-blade prop was perfectly balanced upon installation and had markedly less vibration. Interior screws no longer work their way out of the overhead panels, plus the three-blade prop is markedly quieter. I used to wear ear plugs in both ears under my noise-cancelling headset. It’s not as quiet as my glider, but at least now I don’t need the earplugs.