Robert Norris Hartzell (born June 3, 1896 in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, died December 11, 1968) was an American entrepreneur who started

Hartzell Propeller Hartzell Propeller is an American manufacturer that was founded in 1917 by Robert N. Hartzell as the Hartzell Walnut Propeller Company. It produces composite and aluminum propellers for certified, homebuilt, and ultralight aircraft. The comp ...

in 1917, a company that produces

aircraft propellers An aircraft propeller, also called an airscrew,Beaumont, R.A.; ''Aeronautical Engineering'', Odhams, 1942, Chapter 13, "Airscrews". converts rotary motion from an engine or other power source into a swirling slipstream which pushes the propeller ...

Life and work

Background

Romert N. Hartzell studied to be an engineer at the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,0 ...

, but quit his studies in 1917 to help his father in his lumber business.

Plane propellers

An embargo enforced by the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

made access to goods problematic, and the firm had to improvise. They changed production to rifle flasks, while also delivering lumber to companies that produced plane propellers. Orville Wright, who lived nearby, and knew of Hartzell's interest in planes and flying, suggested that the company started producing plane propellers themselves. Hartzell started doing this, and received an order from the US Navy for propellers for Liberty engines, the most common plane motor of the time. The war ended, and orders dried up. Hartzell began production of its first plane, the FC-1. The plywood plane participated in a race in 1923 which it won. An improved model, the FC-2, won a second race the following year. However, Hartzell found it problematic to compete against his own customers, and to combine production of propellers with aircraft. From the 1920s, the company again explored alternative ways of making money. He had heard that there was money in ceiling fans, and founded the Hartzell Propeller Fan Company. The company also made cabinets for radios and record players, and car wheels. At the same time, the company received orders from the Navy for propellers for the airships Macon and Shenandoah. With the Second World War came new opportunities and orders from the defence forces. Hartzell moved over from walnut propellers to metal for

Curtiss-Wright The Curtiss-Wright Corporation is a manufacturer and services provider headquartered in Davidson, North Carolina, with factories and operations in and outside the United States. Created in 1929 from the consolidation of Curtiss, Wright, and v ...

and

Hamilton Standard Hamilton Standard was an American aircraft propeller parts supplier. It was formed in 1929 when United Aircraft and Transport Corporation consolidated Hamilton Aero Manufacturing and Standard Steel Propeller into the Hamilton Standard Propeller C ...

. After the war, he became the market leader in propellers with variable pitch made from aluminium, while also creating propeller blades from composite materials. In 1949 he patented the composite Hartzite. Thought to be lightweight and low cost, Harzell's propeller was the market leader in the 60s and 70s, with a market share of over 90% of two-engined small planes. Hartzell died in 1968. In 2015 he was inducted into the

National Aviation Hall of Fame The National Aviation Hall of Fame (NAHF) is a museum, annual awards ceremony and learning and research center that was founded in 1962 as an Ohio non-profit corporation in Dayton, Ohio, United States, known as the "Birthplace of Aviation" with it ...

References

External links

Biography at nationalaviation.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hartzell, Robert University of Cincinnati alumni People from Darke County, Ohio 1896 births 1968 deaths National Aviation Hall of Fame inductees American aviation businesspeople American company founders Businesspeople from Ohio 20th-century American businesspeople