Piqua, Ohio (Hartzell)
CFO Flyin 2017

This year 65 intrepid CFO members ventured forth by various means on a rainy day, arriving at Hartzell Field in Piqua, Ohio.

In total 24 aircraft arrived from points as far away as Texas, New Hampshire and California.

The folks at Hartzell were ready for us, with staff closing off taxiways, helping us park the aircraft safely and warning of sharp pavement edges which could catch a prop.

Click any of these photos for a larger image.

We were also welcomed by their small but effective pilot lounge, well stocked with comfortable seating, cold and warm beverages and all the comforts we required. Even wifi!

As the sign indicated we had arrived in PropellerTown, USA, where Hartzell keeps their corporate aircraft and maintains a maintenance shop available for customer work.

In all it was a very nice airport with everything we needed. Thanks to the many people who brought rental cars we had plenty of seats to move people to our various venues in Piqua and Troy, including the Hartzell factory just a few miles away.

A special thanks to George Peach and several others who looked out for new arrivals and made sure they made it to the hotel.

Our first event was the 'day before' trip to see the Air Force museum in Dayton.

The new buildings were clean and well lit, a great addition to this outstanding museum. One could spend several days there seeing all of the exhibits, now including a number of presidential aircraft.

That evening we had dinner at Smith's Boat House in Troy, an outstanding restaurant situated along the Miami river.

The feedback from this meal was universally outstanding... Debbie did a great job picking this location for our first meal together.

Friday we gathered at Hartzell's 'all hands room' for the start of our tours in the morning and speakers in the afternoon.

While we were not allowed to take pictures on the tour, we were all impressed with the high level of automation employed, as well as the interesting tool, material and workflow management.

Hartzell brought back retirees and some contractors who shared insights into their strategy and culture, including their systems for measuring parts and managing material flow.

Hartzell hosted us for an excellent lunch after our tour and before some presentations.

We were honored that J. J. Frigge, the executive vice president give us a kick-off presentation reviewing the history and corporate culture of Hartzell.

Subsequent presentations included a technical review of things we should know about any propeller, and Mike Trudeau who told us the details about the three and two 'way' propellers which Hartzell has certified for our aircraft.

Later we got to see these propellers out at the airport: The new 2 blade metal propeller certified by Hartzell and a new 2 blade composite propeller built by Hartzell but certified by TATI, Tornado Alley Turbo Inc.

Mike says it's OK with him if you buy either one!

There was plenty of great Italian food on the buffet which we enjoyed along with excellent conversation while the rain came down outdoors.

Luckily the rain passed overnight while we slept and was just ending as we headed out to Hartzell Field for our airport day on Saturday.

The rain was gone, and we did enjoy a couple hours of blue skies and bright sun, but a little later in our airport walk-around the clouds moved back in.

Sun or cloud, the fall temperatures had definitely come to Ohio just in time for us to be outdoors. Luckily our members had mostly heeded the advice to come prepared and were troopers as the chill settled in over the last few airplanes.

As usual there were opportunities to look at very nice aircraft, including this prior 'best of show' winner, and discuss the details of what had been done and how.

As always the quality and completeness of the aircraft in attendance was impressive and a delight to behold.

Here's most of the crowd lined up for some announcements. Hartzell let use use their 'toy hangar' which was nicely appointed and suitably warm for the afternoon activities for our airport day.

Your hosts for the afternoon, Keith and Paul. We see Paul kept on his coat and stylish hat as befits a resident of California on a cool midwestern fall day.

And Keith spent more time sitting down this year as a result of his recent kidney transplant. This was his first real foray out into the real world during his recovery from that event.

We spent a pleasant afternoon together looking at both a FG and an RG, pointing out details which could be better or were good here but often missed.

The feedback we received indicated that everyone learned something, from a lot to a little, even those who had been through these events before.

We always seem to cover new items and sometimes have learned more since last year ourselves!

That stool came in handy for Keith again as announcements were made and perhaps a few stories told.

And there were awards!

The award for the attendee who had owned their current Cardinal the longest went to Don Imhoff, who purchased his in 1976.