propellor id?

I have just checked the shank size as submitted by the OP – what we have here is a Westland Whirlwind blade – I am now 100% on this. Extraordinarily rare (no other production aircraft used the 54409 blade), probably not very valuable as not Spitfire!

Does anyone know how to contact this poster?

Anon. All true. It is simply the wrong shape for Lysander or Blenheim. Dimensions look wrong for a Spit’s 55409. I have a strong suspicion that this is a DH dp54409 blade. Confirmation would come from rotation, a measurement of shank size and precise length/max width/position of max width, as no other DH counterweight blades had the combination of RH rotation, shank size ‘4’ and approx 55 inch length/9 inch width at 50% radius. This is not ‘armwaving’.. I have spent 2 years on this and researched at Farnborough, and elsewhere.

If it is, reading my signature will show why I perked up when I saw it. Hen’s teeth indeed.:D

I am fully aware that it might not be, but you can see why I’d wish to measure it.

Prop i/d

This thread was started before I joined the Forum, so it’s a new one to me.

The blade is an early HS/de-H blade as fitted to a bracket-type propeller hub. The blade definitely looks Spitfire but, as someone has suggested, it could be a Defiant blade. It certainly looks like the right type though the length would be the decider.

The Spit and Defiant shared the same (Merlin III) engine so it could be exactly the same blade, of course, though I don’t have definitive information to confirm this.

The bracket (which held the counterweight) was located on the base of the blade (on which it exerted its twisting moment) by small brass rods, which locked the two components together. These rods (which looked just like bearing rollers) engaged into the semicircular recesses on both the blade and the bracket end so locking the two together. This arrangement allowed the bracket to be positioned in different circumferential locations according to the pitch range and propeller rotational direction.

The bracket type prop hubs were also widely used on Mercury and Pegasus pre- and early WW2 types so the blade, if it is shorter, could be Blenheim/Lysander. Longer blades were used on early Sunderlands but they are quite slender, certainly I think more so than the example pictured. The obvious way to tell if the blade is from one of these types is the fact that their Bristol engines were LH rotation, the Merlin was RH. It’s hard to tell which way this particular blade would have rotated as its leading edge isn’t clear.

Where is this blade now?

Anon.

Fallen over this ancient thread, and my jaw dropped.

Is the OP still around? I am prepared to bet that I know exactly what this is..

Just throwing a couple of suggestions in, as I know virtually nothing about props.

I can see the blade is bent but is it possible to work out what the original diameter of the complete prop would have been? That might narrow it down a bit.

Speaking of narrow, it’s never crossed my mind to measure the width of a prop blade 🙂 but 9″ doesn’t sound much. To my untrained eye, it looks a similar shape to a relatively early prop, Defiant or similar.

Hmm…looks like the drawing number may have been lost. de Havilland props for Spitfires have the drawing numbers P55409/b for the bracket types and DP454509/A for the Hydromatic types.

Bruce, I think you may be correct about that stamp, don’t know who ALY is though.

Elliott, keep your eyes open for any of the following Rotol blades, RA4042, RA4060, DB1140, RA682, RA4071 & RA10052 and P55268T/3 for de Havilland blades for all of these were used on Whitleys.

Chears.

Anne

this is the only info that came with the prop(attached pic)
from a search on google it seems cowley would have repaired spitfires etc .

hi thanks for the interest/help.
the only other numbers i can find are d
17
and bc 508

Am I right in saying that the DHS stamp is a Stevenage inspectors stamp? Might make it postwar in that case.

Bruce

Not a problem.

There are three places to look. Firstly the blades drawing number should be painted on the face of the blade. If its not, look at the metal adaptor ring to see if you can find a drawing number there. In theory you should find two drawing numbers on the adaptor ring, one for the blade and one for the adaptor. In practice you tend to find that the numbers are unreadable or were never added. The last place to look is up into the root end where you should find the Drawing number carved into the wooden base.

Happy hunting.

Anne

Sorry to hijack the thread, but Anne, where would you look for a number on a jablo covered blade? I have an unidentified rotol compatible blade…

Cheers
Elliott

I’m going to have to ask you to look for more drawing numbers I’m afraid. Have a look at the rim at the root end of the blade and you should find the Drawing number of the blade stamped into its side.

Anne

I’m going to have to ask you to look for more drawing numbers I’m afraid. Have a look at the rim at the root end of the blade and you should find the Drawing number of the blade stamped into its side.

Anne

P4520-1/1 is a deHavilland drawing number. I’ll have a look and see what I can find tomorrow.

Anne

thanks for the reply . i bought this prop from an antique warehouse and was told it was from a spitfire , but i’m not sure .

John,

Nine out of ten would people tell that it was from a Lancaster, Spitfire or B-17 to arouse interest. Look at e-bay these days.

Cees

thanks for the reply . i bought this prop from an antique warehouse and was told it was from a spitfire , but i’m not sure .

I think it’s a hamilton standard/DH type of prop. Those brass teeth look identical to a Japanese prop component (a HS copy) in my possesion a few years ago.

i was told this was from a spitfire ,but not sure .