Company:Hegy Propellers

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Short description: American aircraft propeller manufacturer
Hegy Propellers
TypePrivate company
IndustryAerospace
FateOut of business
FounderRay Hegy
Headquarters
Marfa, Texas
,
ProductsAircraft propellers

Hegy Propellers, founded by Ray Hegy, was an American manufacturer of wooden propellers for homebuilt and ultralight aircraft. The company headquarters was located in Marfa, Texas.[1]

Hegy built fixed-pitch two and four bladed propellers with diameters from 12 to 120 in (30 to 305 cm) for Continental engines, Volkswagen air-cooled engines and Chevrolet Corvair engines. Propellers were made from birch and maple.[1]

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.[2] 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.[2]

See also

  • List of aircraft propeller manufacturers

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Purdy, Don: AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, page 84. BAI Communications. ISBN:0-9636409-4-1
  2. 2.0 2.1 "The Spirit of Marfa: A Lifetime of Airplanes". Texas Monthly (Emmis Communications) 5 (10): 91. October 1977. ISSN 0148-7736. https://books.google.com/books?id=bysEAAAAMBAJ&q=hegy+propeller+closed&pg=PA91.