US aviation authority approves four-bladed aluminium MacCauly C779 Blackmac propellers for Cessna SkyCourier

FAA, the US aviation authority has approved the four-bladed aluminium MacCauly C779 Blackmac propellers specially designed for the Cessna SkyCourier.

The propeller manufacturer went through a test program of 135 hours, before securing this certificate, in which the propeller was subjected, among other things, to twice the number of centrifugal forces.

Cessna has recently started the test program with two SkyCouriers after a first flight with the second prototype on 11 August. The aircraft, P1, recorded an altitude of 14,200 ft (4,023 m) during a 1:35 hour flight, reaching a speed of 210 kts (389 km / h). P1 is the first production compliant aircraft to be equipped as a cargo plane.

On 17^th May’20, the first aircraft completed an initial 2:15 hour flight that went smoothly. Since then, this prototype has been flown for 72 hours in 38 flights.

There are currently four aircraft under construction. Two other shoulder sailors will be deployed flying in 2020 as production-compliant test specimens. Besides, static and fatigue tests were conducted with three other devices during 2019.

For the propulsion, two 1,100 hp Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-65B have been selected that drive four-bladed aluminium MacCauly Blackmac propellers with a diameter of 2.79 m each (with reverse). The turboprop had already been on a test stand for 150 hours before the maiden flight.

The SkyCourier, announced in 2017, was the first to be ordered by FedEx Express.

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