Expansion of facilities, product development milestones, and strategic acquisitions were highlights Hartzell Propeller president JJ Frigge shared at a Thursday press briefing at Aero Friedrichshafen. Based in Piqua, Ohio, Hartzell Propeller is one company under the umbrella of Hartzell Aviation, along with Hartzell Engine Technologies, Aerospace Welding Minneapolis, and Quality Aircraft Accessories.

Among the more physical markers of growth, the company acquired Whirlwind Propellers last year and relocated it to the Piqua campus in the third quarter. Hartzell has also acquired Reiff Preheat Systems and expanded its network with five new maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) acquisitions.

“We believe that having a directly owned network of shops enables us to take care of the customer’s product and the entire life cycle of the propeller, all the way through its different stages,” said Frigge. “So really focusing on quality, and on our lead times, we’re able to offer two- to three-week lead times on those support propellers, which is a big competitive advantage for us, and as well as a nice benefit to the customers.”

“One of the things that we’ve been working on in Piqua is a retrofit of a warehouse next door to us at our main campus. It’s about 150,000 square feet. We’re excited to be moving into that space for two primary functions later in the summer. The first is our service center and overall business; we’re moving from a significantly smaller footprint into a more tailored design for product flow and an additional capability for our own in-house and MRO services.

“And of course, many customers like to have the opportunity to have the factory work on their propeller. So we’re excited to broaden our footprint in our new facility…We’re also using that facility for our Composite Innovation Center. So this is going to be our new home for our composite blade manufacturing.”

Ten to 12 years ago, Frigge said, the company was producing fewer than 1,000 composite propellers annually; this year it anticipates manufacturing more than 7,000. Employment has expanded apace, with growth from fewer than 10 to more than 70 employees in that time frame.

Beyond several recent STCs for carbon props for platforms from Caravans to Aviat Husky aircraft to the Red Bull Carbon Cub on the side of Hartzell Propellers, Hartzell Engine Technologies has received FAA parts manufacturer approval (PMA) for its S-20 and S-200 magnetos, which are compatible with Cirrus SR22 and Robinson platforms. Frigge said the company expects PMA approval by year-end for S-1200-series magnetos.