Canadian Hurricane question

Canadian Hurricanes (spinners)

A quick trawl through some of my old Hurricane info mentions that the early CCF versions utilised a ‘cut down’ Fairey Battle prop (no spinner)
Canada had over 700 Battles sent over for training use and the Canadian Hurricanes were also used in the training system, so stocks of these props were no doubt available,any performance issue not being so important for training.
As an aside CC&F were unusual in having a lady as its chief engineer at that time,she is mentioned in several Canadian publications as ‘The Queen of the Hurricanes’.
No doubt the early production machines and any ‘specials’ would have been used for publicity material at the time.These would have been Rolls Royce Merlin versions.Later versions utilised the Packard production.

CCF Hurricanes and Spinners

I’d like to correct a misconception that all RCAF CCF Hurricanes flew without spinners. That’s not the case. Some did and some didn’t.

Edited previous as I was confusing myself with it! One point though, Camlobe – were the De Havilland prop hubs really called 23DX50 or whatever – did they use the Hamilton Standard convention?

I thought they were called things like ‘5/39’ (Spitfire) and ‘4/4’ (Whirlwind) despite being based on Hamilton Standard designs? Only US produced prop hubs that were intended for British shafts carried the US nomenclature complete with additional ‘X’.

This is all relevant to the Whirly project. We still don’t know whether we can use 3D40 hubs or not as identical stand-ins for DH 4/4’s, and I’m drowning under all this..

I guess it’s the blades that are wrong for the Hurricane – pedantic point, but the hub is probably right – hence my follow up question to check – 23E50 on the Hurri, just like on a DC3?

More pedantry, Camblobe – the P-47 would have a 24E50 (four blades)

Your right camlobe they are ham standard props and that hurricane pic I was told by one of the volunteers is a DC3 prop.

Thanks Camlobe

So it’s fair to presume from this that the CCF Hurricanes, having Packard engines, used 23E50’s?

Oh, and it’s also fair to say that our Whirlwind (having 4,000-series RH rotation DH CW props on a RR fine-spline SBAC4 shaft) had a licence-built equivalent of the 3DX40?

If memory serves me correctly:

HamStan Hydromatic propeller hubs as installed on DC3, P47 etc and Packard Merlin engined aircraft were designated 23E50, and were mounted on the ‘American’ square-section propshaft splines.

DeH Hydromatic propeller hubs as installed on Lanc B1 etc were designated 23EX50. The ‘X’ as mentioned by Beermat refers to the UK ‘fine-spline’ found on RR and Ford produced Merlin propshaft splines, as well as any other British produced aeroengine(?).

Maybe Peter can advise what is on the Victory produced, Packard engined Lancs. I suspect square-splined 23E50 hubs.

The smaller diameter propshafts found on smaller aeroengines such as the P&W 985, 1340 and DeH Queen etc had the same designation difference i.e. ‘X’ to show UK ‘fine-spline’.

camlobe

My guess at the hub type would be 23EX.. 2 = hydro, 3 = number of blades, E = shank size X = accepts a ‘foreign’ (ie UK) shaft size.

Any takers? Anon? Anneorac?

..cue debate over who has the bigger shaft sizes!

Thank you Eddie, that was staring me in the face but it takes someone who knows stuff to point it out!

According to William R Dunn (who flew CCF Hurris), in his autobiography ‘Fighter Pilot’, Hamilton Standard wouldn’t guarantee these props when enclosed in a spinner.

So, next question is – what was the hub type / blade number? :diablo:

Probably a DC3 prop, for museum display only.

Hurricane prop

I know there will be a certain amount of distortion re the proximity of the image,but that prop would not be out of place on a Lanc or a Mosquito, and looks a trifle large in dia for the normal Hurricane size.

You mean like this one???

Was it not that the de Havilland props on the Hurricane were the balance type props, whereas the ones on CCF Hurricanes were hydromatic?

Canadian Hurricanes

I seem to recall that the CCF built Hurricanes did not all have spinners over the prop hub,or at least those in Canada did not.