JJ Frigge At EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2025

ANN’s Rex Alexander spoke with JJ Frigge, President of Hartzell Propeller at the 2025 EAA AirVenture Air Show and Fly-in in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Frigge said the company’s been dedicated to innovation in blade technology and focused on carbon fiber for quite a while. They feel the combination of durability, strength, quality, and reliability sets it apart from other materials and options available.

Carbon fiber props have been in the market for over 40 years and the blades are certified for unlimited life. With some of the fleet operators, the blades come in for overhaul every 4-6 years. When they come in, they’re stripped down, checked, pass inspection, get repainted, and go right back out into service. There are blades with over 50,000 flight hours and been through 6-8 overhaul cycles so Hartzell really believes in the technology, they’ve been doing it for a long time.

Frigge said the AAM space is so intriguing because each of the vehicles is fairly unique, so what Beta is doing with the Alia is remarkable with their all-electric design for cargo, civilian, or military transport and to be able to do that with a five-blade, fixed-pitch, ground-adjustable prop which in Hartzell’s view is a very simple yet very efficient design, and the airplane performs incredibly. Hartzell’s been working with Beta for four years and the propeller was designed for that airframe and the electric motor.

Frigge said he’s excited about that progress, whether the prop is hydraulically actuated or potentially electrically actuated, or even the fixed-pitch, ground-adjustable, Hartzell is looking at different retention and hydraulic systems to custom design what the market needs in this emerging space.

Hartzell recently acquired Whirlwind Propellers, a family-run business that's been around twenty-plus years in the experimental aviation space. Fridge stated that it’s a really strong complement to what they do, because of Hartzell’s type certification pedigree. That means everything Hartzell has is either type certified or could be type certified if the customer requires it.

Beyond that, Hartzell is really excited about growing its own propeller MRO network and it’s a big deal for Frigge. There is a recommended overhaul cycle for all Hartzell props and taking good care of a propeller is the smartest thing an owner can do.

Hartzell has acquired five shops over the past twelve months and plans to acquire several more in the second half of 2025 to build out a strong regional network of directly owned shops. This helps Hartzell take care of its customers more directly by providing high-quality maintenance, low turn times with exchange pools, and access to factory parts that brings additional value to customers.

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