Mystery Propeller

thanks john for the help
its great finding out new stuff about my old prop

thanks again robin

I am not an engineer of propeller blades but it has been common knowledge that in the early days of powered flight and almost certainly due to poor quality control, The propeller blade tips where wraped with fabric and ‘doped’ with resin to strengthen the tip.

This was to prevent the blade tip from ‘De-laminating’ and breaking appart at high speeds, Maybe not in the WW1 but certainly later on in the development of powered flight it was not uncommon for the propeller tips to go supersonic.

If any one else can add to this please step in!, A better explanation by a propeller expert may confirm or dispel my belief’s.

Regards

John

Thanks guys (and gal) for the help I’ve discovered alot about the propeller.

does anyone know why the tips are black?

thanks again
Robin Foster

It’s certainly WW1 and British but it’s unlikely it could be identified without the drawing number. Are there any letters or numbers stamped on the blade anywhere; and is there any sign of a makers decal anywhere?

Quite right. Without the drawing number, which unfortunately would appear on the hub, there is no way to positively identify this prop.

The width would suggest a four bladed prop and if you multiply by two and add about 30-40cm for the hub you’ll have a diameter of about 2700-2800mm. That puts it within the range of aircraft like the D.H.4 and B.E.2 family. Although I have records of one D.H.6 prop in this range most of the props used on the D.H.6 were a bit smaller than this.

Anne

Just going by shape

It’s certainly WW1 and British but it’s unlikely it could be identified without the drawing number. Are there any letters or numbers stamped on the blade anywhere; and is there any sign of a makers decal anywhere?

DH6 Airco….gets my vote