Modern Wooden Propellers
Please note: This page and the following pages were re-constructed from Lamar Bevil's original site, modernwoodenpropellers.com, which is no longer valid. His contribution in organizing and publishing this valuable data is greatly appreciated, along with his kind permission to re-publish it.
Trying to find the airplane that wooden propeller may have been used on? The first step is to identify the most likely period of manufacture. Somewhat arbitrarily, wooden propellers may be divided into two periods: those made during and since the 1920's and those made prior to that time. General characteristics of "Early" vs. "Modern" wooden propellers.
→ Go to www.woodenpropeller.com
There were so many variations in the design and production of wooden propellers, it is nearly impossible to accurately identify one solely from its appearance. Most propellers will have some identifying information on them. The most useful of these is the drawing number, also often called the design number.
A number of propellers were built in the 1940's under military contract using the year of contract as the first two digits of the design number followed by the letter "K". If you are looking for a design number matching this criteria regardless of manufacturer, check this page: Military Design Numbers. Otherwise, continue below.
Pages on this website are arranged by the propeller manufacturer. Click on the manufacturer's name below to see a list of the design numbers to locate the possibilities.
Modern US Wooden Propeller Manufacturers:
Post WW-I Propellers for British Aircraft
Thanks to Bob Gardner at Aeroclocks for compiling this data
Can't find what you're looking for? Click on the following underlined text to visit the Wooden Propeller Forum - the place to post your questions, do buying and selling, show off your prop and almost anything else that has to do with wooden propellers. The forum is moderated by Dave Bahnson at www.woodenpropeller.com, Bob Gardner at Aeroclocks and me at this site.
Finally, some reference books are available. These are excellent references pertaining mostly to World War I era wooden propellers. The sections on care, stabilization, restoration and buying tips are alone worth more than the price. Includes abundant illustrations and references. Click on the Aeroclocks link above for more information.
Can you document additional information not available here? Please send me an email and include "wooden propeller" in your subject line. Otherwise, I will not see your message.
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"Typical" modern propeller:
6 to 8 feet
symetrical blade pattern
light colored wood
6 bolt holes more common
"Typical" early propeller:
7 to 11 feet
asymetrical blade pattern
darker colored wood
8 bolt holes more common
→ Stay on this page and scroll down to view the list of manufacturers.