11-blade propeller takes flight

MT-Propeller holds more than 220 supplemental type certificates worldwide for certified and experimental aircraft and manufactures OEM propeller systems for companies like Diamond Aircraft, Pipistrel (acquired by Textron in 2022), Tecnam, Extra Aircraft, and Lancair.

During the test, the company claims its 11-blade design showed a 15-percent increase in static thrust over the standard certified five-blade propeller and had an “impressive noise and sound signature.”

The 11-blade system, when paired with a low-revolutions-per-minute powerplant like a turbine or electric engine, “opens new possibilities for performance, efficiency and noise,” the company said in its statement.

You can learn more about the 11-blade system and watch videos of the test flights on the company’s website.

The company offers two-blade to seven-blade hydraulically controlled variable-pitch propellers and two-blade to four-blade electrically controlled variable pitch propellers. In 2019, the company tested a nine-blade propeller design; however, neither the nine-blade nor the 11-blade propeller is offered for sale at this time.