Press Releases

PIQUA, Ohio (November 29, 1993) — Hartzell has been selected to provide an improved propeller system for the first new aircraft introduced by Piper since the company’s reorganization. The system consists of aluminum blades and hub with a redesigned airfoil to optimize cruise performance and efficiency.

The blades are highly twisted from root to tip which is a characteristic of most higher performance propellers allowing designers to optimize cruise while incurring the smallest possible drag penalties.The propeller and a new, polished spinner have also been moved a few inches further out to make way for a dramatically different cowl design which improves engine cooling while reducing drag. The new propeller/engine combination, along with aerodynamic enhancements throughout the aircraft, have contributed to an increase in climb, cruise, payload and endurance. Production of the propellers is currently underway at Hartzell’s main plant in Piqua, Ohio.

Hartzell has been Piper’s number one supplier of propeller systems for nearly 50 years and Art Disbrow, Hartzell President, comments on his own company’s enthusiasm for being a partner on Piper’s latest product, “We’ve had the privilege of being a part of many of Piper’s best aircraft over the years and we’re delighted to be a part of their fantastic new Saratoga.”

Hartzell Propeller Inc. is the world’s leading manufacturer of propeller systems, enjoying an 85% market share on corporate turboprops and a 60% share on turboprop airliners. The 76-year-old company is also well-known for its design leadership having introduced the industry’s first full-feathering propellers for light twins, the first fully-reversing propellers for corporate turboprops, and the industry’s first composite structure blades.