Hartzell Propeller
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| Industry | Aerospace |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1917 |
| Founder | Robert Hartzell |
| Headquarters | Piqua, Ohio, United States |
| Products | Aircraft propellers |
| Website | www |
Hartzell Propeller was founded in 1917 by Robert Hartzell as the Hartzell Walnut Propeller Company. Hartzell is an American manufacturer of composite and aluminum propellers for certified, homebuilt and ultralight aircraft. The company headquarters is located in Piqua, Ohio.
The company produces propellers, spinners, governors, ice protection systems and other propeller controls.
In an effort to get off his Union City, Indiana farm, 17-year-old John T. Hartzell borrowed $25, purchased a horse and a huckster wagon, and began his business career in 1860 selling lightning rods. In 1875 he founded the Hartzell Farm Wagon Company.
In the 1890s, John's son George joined the company as a partner and it was renamed John T. Hartzell & Son, doing business as lumber suppliers and wagon manufacturers. George Hartzell purchased the company from his father and renamed it the George W. Hartzell Company. He moved the company from Greenville, Ohio to Piqua, Ohio and set up a more modern sawmill. In 1915, the company manufactured gun stocks for the First World War.
George’s son Robert N. Hartzell owned a small airplane and did maintenance as a young man. In 1917, Orville Wright suggested that Hartzell use its walnut trees to manufacture aircraft propellers. As a result Robert founded the Hartzell Walnut Propeller Company in Piqua and the company provided "Liberty" aircraft propellers for World War I warplanes.
After the war, Hartzell built its own airplanes, including the FC-1 (the first aircraft made entirely of plywood). The FC-1 took first place in the Flying Club of St. Louis Trophy Race at the 1923 International Air Meet. An alteration to the wings resulted in the improved FC-2 model, which won over aircraft from the Waco Aircraft Company and the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company) at the 1924 International Air Races in Dayton, Ohio. Hartzell stopped producing aircraft to avoid competing with its own propeller customers. In 1926, Hartzell began building propellers for the Aeronca C-2.
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