In relation to notional costs, the cost of components is well documented in the Air Ministry (Ministry of Supply) contract books. I have seen the cost for Lancaster’s, new and for repair services with in one of these books. I can not state which book exactly it was, as it was 10 years ago.
I was looking for information on other subjects.
The PRO reference was Supp 4/323 for the contact book I was looking in. Anyone interested should look for the contract book starting with A, somewhere with in this series.
Air Ministry
I don’t know if the following will meet your requirement of being easily accessible, but there are files in Australia that suggest there are copies of what you are looking for, in the National Archives of Australia.
I think it may be NAS1398.
Looking at a military riveting manual from the 1960’s it tells me, that there are a number of possibilities.
To make it simple from what the manual contains:
2 manufacturers of blind rivets, Cherry and Huck.
MS20600 – Self plugging
MS20601 – Self plugging
MS20602 – Explosive
MS20603 – Explosive
2 head types, universal to MS20470 and 100° flush to MS20426.
Mechanical lock stem to NAS1398 and 1399.
The MBC referred to the in the images relate to NAS1719, 1720 and 1721
I also looked up that Ref number and I agree with Radarsdesk that the associated NSN is 6685-99-198-5935.
I also found that 5895-99-198-5951 is associated as well.
Both made by Munro with the later having a P/N of 10A295-118
Looking at it further, it seems the letter codes are related to paints intended for camouflage purposes.
The type of paint does not seem to make a different.
A given colour can be used for another type/purpose of paint and it’s “letter” is not included in the description.
The codes appear to be:
A White
B Light slate grey
C Slate grey
D Dark grey
E Purple grey
F Grey green
G Dark grey
H Light green
J Khaki green
K Foliage green
L Scrub green
M Dark green
N Light stone
O Warm sand
P Light brown
Q Darwin stone
R Red
S Basalt red
T Dark earth
W Light earth
I would guess that there should be 3 or 4 more on the list as well.
I have the part number as A94103A/X11, as given in a Canadian document, with a RCAF Sec/Ref 25A/265.
Given as being fitted to the following aircraft:
AUSTER 7 DH Gypsy Major 10
CHIPMUNK 1 DH Gypsy Major 1G
CHIPMUNK 2 DH Gypsy Major 10
Described as being a 2 bladed fixed pitched aluminium propeller, 6’9″
Beermat
The data includes angles at different stations.
Will need to get it into a form that is easy to read as some of the photos are a bit blurry. It will be a couple of days before I can get on to it.
Beermat
I could not locate any information on what the A or B suffix mean.
I did however locate blade shape data from the 1950’s with a diagram descriping how the measurements were made. Given you have got right in to doing the maths, I will let you crunch the data.
Propellers covered include:
Blade Assembly No. P.454906A-20, Propeller type D14/445/1 and 2
Blade Assembly No. P.455960, Propeller type 55/14
Blade Assembly No. P.4551172T/A-17, Propeller type 55/8
Blade Assembly No. P.4551775A-17, Propeller type 55/21, 55/24
Blade Assembly No. P.4551778A-17, Propeller type 55/12
Blade Assembly No. P.2541971A-78-1, Propeller type D29/446/1, D97/446/1
Blade Assembly No. P.2541974A-78-1, Propeller type D18/446/1, D42/446/1
Blade Assembly No. P.4542712A-42, Propeller type D16/446/1
Blade Assembly No. P.4542962A-36, Propeller type D17/446/1
Blade Assembly No. P.454300A-42, Propeller type D20/445/2, D20/445/2, D20/445/4, D20/445/5
Blade Assembly No. P.4542172A-42, Propeller type D1/445/2
Blade Assembly No. P.2012550A-57-1, Propeller type 81/313/1
Blade Assembly No. P.2011368TA-57-1, Propeller type D113/312/1, D25/312/1
Blade Assembly No. PR.1941774A-78-1, Propeller type D100/446/1, D124/446/1
Blade Assembly No. P.4543000A-42, Propeller type D87/445/1, 2, 3 and 4
Blade Assembly No. PR.1512753A-111-1, Propeller type D112/313/1
Blade Assembly No. P.4542718A-42, Propeller type D68/4451/1
Blade Assembly No. PR.2531003A-77, Propeller type D45/435/1
Blade Assembly No. PR.2531009A-77, Propeller type D47/435/1
Let me know if there are any in particular you would like to have.
[Since the angles of the original stations are not changed in telescoping, the pitch distribution will be affected in a different way.]
In the report this text is crossed out. Seems it was crossed out as an after thought having decided the statement did not apply?
Beermat
You are correct the blade number is 50, an OCR error. In some fonts 5 and 6 are hard for it to pick up and I missed it!!!
From the DH airscrew report R83, the numbering system is described as follows:
D.H.BLADE PART NUMBERING SYSTEM
(a) Production Part Numbers
The production part numbers of de Havilland blades for counterweight bracket type hubs are given as a five or six figure number preceded by the letter P signifying production.
The first of the numbers is always 5, which indicates that the number following is a blade number. The second figure gives the blade shank size (i.e. 4 for 4000 size, 5 for 5000 size, etc); the
last two figures indicate the direction of rotation and the diameter. For basic blades these last two figures in the production number are always 00 for R.H. rotation and 60 for L.H. rotation.
The figure or figures between the first two and last two denotes the basic blade design.
Cut-off blades.
The most usual method of trimming an airscrew to reduce its diameter is to cut down the blade ends and round the tips to give a reasonable shape.
When this is done, the resulting difference in diameter in inches is added to these last two figures.
e.g. P54409 is a 4000 size blade of R.H. rotation cropped to give 9.0″ less diameter than the basic P54400 blade.
Telescoped blades.
Another method of reducing airscrew diameter is to trim the blades in such a manner that the outer stations are all moved inward towards the hub without any change in the actual dimensions.
Telescoping is generally done on stations outboard of the maximum width of the blade.
When the tip is moved in, say twelve inches, then the station half way between the station of maximum width and the tip is moved in half as much, or six inches.
Telescoping a blade will affect its shape characteristics in a different manner them will cutting off the tips.
[Since the angles of the original stations are not changed in telescoping, the pitch distribution will be affected in a different way.]
When the diameter of the airscrew is reduced by telescoping the ends of the blades instead of cropping them, a letter T is added at the end of the blade number.
e.g. P55264T is a 5000 size blade of L.H. rotation telescoped to give 14.0″ less diameter than the basic P55250 blade.
Blades suitable for use in the D.H. hydromatic hub are denoted by a figure 4 placed between the letter P and the figure 5. Apart from this, the numbers are similar to those for the counterweight bracket type blades.
Thus P4551150 is a 5000 size hydromatic blade of L.H. rotation and basic
diameter.
(b) Experimental Part Numbers
The part numbers of experimental blades are given as either four or five figure numbers preceded by the letters SKP.
The original experimental numbers were all four figure numbers with the first number indicating the shank size, e.g. SKP5804 was a 5000 size blade, SKP4007 a 4000 size blade, etc.
When any series reached the limit, e.g. SKP4999 a figure six was added in front of the experimental number, and the series started again, e.g. SKP64000.
When this series runs out the six will be changed to a seven, and so on (these numbers being quite independent of shank size). T
hus for the five figure experimental numbers the second figure will give the shank site, e.g. SKP65612 is a 5000 size blade, SKP64243 a 4000 size, etc.
The diameter of such experimental blades is indicated by a dash number after the blade number. Thus SKP66024-12 is a 6000 size blade cut back to give 12.0″ less disaster than the basic SKP66024.
Telescoping is indicated by the letter T in the usual manner. Thus SKP65612-16T is a telescoped 5000 size blade SKF65612 giving 16.0″ less diameter.
(c) Wooden blades
De Havilland wooden blades bear a three symbol number; the first of the symbols is always P. The second denotes the basic blade design,
and is a number. The third denotes the shank size, and is a letter.
e.g. P3Q is the third basic wooden blade design, and uses a Q
shank.
Note that the basic wooden blade designs are numbered consecutively irrespective of shank size. Thus the second wooden blade design
happened to be on the W and bore number P2W. The shank sizes are as follows:
100 mm. diameter is P shank 110 mm. diameter is Q shank and hence up in 10 mm. increments until 190 mm. diameter is Y shank.
Beermat
DP456250A is listed as being fitted to the Manchester I, fitted with a Vulture II engine. I checked if it was a typo, but the assembly is listed as being 705lb in weight, where as the rest are around 500lb.
Another that will interest you is that fitted to the Sunderland II, with Pegaus XVIII, P551953A.
What is interesting is that the spline is not listed as being either a SBAC or SAE type. It is listed as having a 100mm tapered spline.
Beermat
There is nothing like a challenge to produce results.
Currently working on something for P & P which will take a couple more weeks to complete (I hope its only takes that long!).
Having a quick look at the easily located info I have and comparing it to your tables, I can offer the following part numbers etc. for your analysis.
12′ 9″ DP4551172TA
12′ 9″ DP4551778TA
16′ 0″ DP456250A
14′ 0″ DP4541062A
13′ 0″ DH6353A
13’ 0″ DP455800A
P454500
P455950
P4551150
P4551200
P4551350
P4551400
A couple of the numbers are already on your tables, I just left them in the list to show the full part number sequence. DH6353A is any interesting part number given its prefix. This data came from RAF documents. There are a couple more for me to look through first before I can give you any more data from them.
As to wooden props that P & P raised, I have yet to OCR a document which I believe covers some of these.
It’s not until you put the info into a spreadsheet as you have, that you see the patterns. Keep up the good work. I will provide information as I locate and identify it.
It’s a bit tricky but there is logic in it. The system appears to have changed in time, which complicates things. The other complication is that when a blade was serviced, the dimensions of the blade may have had to be changed and so the part number had to change as a result.
I am still looking into it, I think I have enough information now to figure it out.