Settlement Reached in Suit Over Aircraft Propeller

One day after a jury awarded $5.4 million to two men who claimed that Cessna Aircraft Co. took their idea for a new propeller and made millions from it, both sides agreed Tuesday to a settlement that will end further jury deliberations in the case.

The Superior Court jury had returned to court Tuesday to consider possible punitive damages against Cessna.

“We had a very big difference of opinion as to who was right and who was wrong. It was obvious that the jury sided with the plaintiff,” said Cessna’s attorney, Lee Horton of Los Angeles, in explaining why his client agreed to a settlement.

He would not disclose the terms of the settlement, which ends the lawsuit.

Attorney Robert F. Scoular, who represents John L. Rich and Robert A. Craner, the men who sued Cessna, also declined to the discuss the settlement.

Juror Mary Stewart of Los Alamitos said she and other jurors “might have hit them (Cessna) with a pretty good amount” for punitive damages had they been given the chance to decide.

“It was pretty clear that Rich and Craner had a contract and had been cheated out,” Stewart said.

After a two-month trial, jurors had found that Cessna was liable for damages and should pay Rich and Craner for lost profits.

Rich and Craner said they were satisfied with the settlement and relieved that the trial was over.

“I’m absolutely ecstatic right now,” Rich said, grinning as he stood outside the courtroom.

Rich, 61, a retired Cypress lawyer, and Craner, 56, a Long Beach auto mechanic, worked as a team in 1986 to develop the first three-bladed propeller for a four-cylinder, single-engine airplane. At the time, most smaller planes used a two-bladed propeller, which is lighter but less powerful.

With Rich’s financial backing and Craner’s ability to design propellers, they built a prototype, licensed it and approached Cessna with their product in 1986. The men said Cessna expressed interest, promising to make the propellers and allow the men to have exclusive selling rights.

But by 1988, according to the lawsuit, the two men thought that Cessna had lost interest in the deal, and they gave up their venture. Later, Rich said, he saw an advertisement for the propeller he helped create, made by Cessna but offered for sale by another company. He then filed the civil lawsuit.

Craner, a mechanic who fixes Cadillacs at a Long Beach dealership, said Tuesday he doesn’t know what to do with the money from the settlement.

“For now, I’m gonna keep working at my job,” Craner said, looking at his watch. “I better get going. I’m supposed to be there in an hour.”