I read in flypast that there’s a Hurricane being restored to taxiable condition somewhere (uk based I think?) that was flying with the two blade prop when it was lost.
It got me wondering if anyone restoring a period correct spit or Hurricane amongst others could have it fly with a two blade prop?
Would the CAA have something to say about it?
Sorry if this has been asked before but I’m not up to date with the laws and regs on flying old warbirds.
By: JohnTerrell - 13th March 2017 at 22:22
It perhaps should be stated (the obvious?) that I believe the warbirds already flying today that are appropriate to have such a propeller fitted, already do, such as in the form of the Gloster Gladiators and the Hawker biplanes. I don’t think any of the Hurricanes/Spitfires flying today, even the earliest, ever operated with a two-blade Watts propeller originally (in the case of Spitfires P9374 and N3200, they are fitted with the rare DH bracket propeller, as they were fitted with during original service/to the end, and was the type of prop that R4118 and P3351 also had originally as well I believe, if I recall correctly).
By: R4118 - 13th March 2017 at 21:25
I was just wondering why there wasn’t any after reading it. I had realised that the performance might have been an issue for using them! Would be nice to see a two blade on a warbird.
Thank you for clarifying the questions people!
By: Beermat - 13th March 2017 at 17:28
I suspect (and I haven’t read the article) this might be Paul Rogers’ Mk1. He is keen on the authentic look – I built the fabric-type wing Warren truss and re-drew the original ribs when I was on the project.
By: Arabella-Cox - 13th March 2017 at 16:57
I’m aware there are some old Watts’ Merlin II/III two-bladers still knocking about but I doubt they’d be fit for being spun on the front of a Merlin again. Something to do with the glue, I would think.
However, I’d have thought that a new two-blade unit, made to original drawings and with original materials would be fine, though the performance shortcomings would preclude any serious warbird owner/operator from flying it.
Ground taxi would be no problem. It would be a peculiar sight as the blades are massive and bulky and more reminiscent of a large model propeller than a flying assembly.
Anon.
By: Graham Boak - 13th March 2017 at 16:17
If it was the correct original prop, why not? There’s nothing magic about the number of blades. There may well be questions asked about the quality of a surviving prop, or the build standard of a new one, but that’s only what would be asked about any prop. I can’t imagine anyone going ahead without doing it properly.
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March 13, 2017 at 3:41 pm