Hegy Propellers, founded by Ray Hegy, was an American manufacturer of wooden

propellers A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

for

homebuilt Homebuilt machines are machines built outside of specialised workshops or factories. This can include different things such as kit cars or homebuilt computers, but normally it pertains to homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or ...

and

ultralight aircraft Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and conventional three-axis control aircraft with ailer ...

. The company headquarters was located in Marfa, Texas.Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook'', page 84. BAI Communications. Hegy built fixed-pitch two and four bladed propellers with diameters from for Continental engines,

Volkswagen air-cooled engine The Volkswagen air-cooled engine is an air-cooled, gasoline-fuelled, boxer engine with four horizontally opposed cast-iron cylinders, cast aluminum alloy cylinder heads and pistons, magnesium-alloy crankcase, and forged steel crankshaft and co ...

s and Chevrolet Corvair engines. Propellers were made from

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...

and

maple ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...

History

Ray Hegy worked in Milwaukee, building propellers for iceboats. This experience qualified him to respond to an ad "for cabinetmakers to build wooden craft propellers" in 1925. Ray Hegy bought his first plane, a Waco-10, in 1928. In 1957, Hegy started building the ''Chuparosa'' and was finished after nine years at a cost of $600. The success of the ''Chuparosa'' changed Hegy "from a furniture maker and refinisher to a full-time carver of wooden propellers." At that time, Hegy made his propellers in his backyard workshop.

References

Aircraft propeller manufacturers Aerospace companies of the United States

History

See also

References