Hartzell Propeller will focus on its newest carbon fiber propeller systems at its booth display at NBAA-BACE in Las Vegas next week. Company president JJ Frigge said, “Our latest propeller designs incorporate the most advanced materials and manufacturing techniques available anywhere in the world in order to achieve optimal aircraft performance.”
Hartzell describes its propeller blades as offering the advantages of stainless-steel wedge retention and electroformed nickel-cobalt leading edges. Frigge said, “We collaborate closely with aircraft manufacturers and modifiers, who are displaying at NBAA-BACE, to optimize propeller design for each specific aircraft.”
For example, Hartzell said, Daher introduced its Kodiak 900 with Hartzell five-blade composite props. Also, a five-blade Hartzell composite prop was approved earlier this year for factory-new and retrofit Daher Kodiak 100s. A long-time Hartzell OEM customer, Daher uses the company’s five-blade swept props across its entire fleet, “including the TBM 900 series.”
Other Hartzell OEM customers include Piper Aircraft, which chose Hartzell structural composite props as standard equipment on its M-Class line of turboprop singles. Under an upcoming supplemental type certificate (STC), aircraft modification specialist Wipaire will approve Hartzell Propeller’s four-blade carbon fiber prop for Cessna Caravan turboprops. And Blackhawk Aerospace has been approved for an STC offering Hartzell’s five-blade structural composite props on its engine- and prop-upgrade program for the Beechcraft King Air 300.
