BAP 83229 FLOTTORP

[mporter88]

Hello.
About 25 years ago I opened an attic at an old movie studio in hollywood and found a propeller. The property dates back to the teens but there was no clue as to when the attic had been sealed. It is a beautiful thing and I have kept it leaning in the corner of my living room ever since.
It occured to me to try to find out something about it and that thought led me here...as I know it has led many others. So here is what it is;

110 inches long

7 inches thick at the hub

2 FLOTTORP decals sjowing wings and propeller over a
circular badge.

Metal clad leading edges appearing to be copper with zinc fasteners groud completely flat, This edge cladding has a cut out every 3 inches so as to allow the metal to be contoured to the compound curve. These cutouts create a sort of trailing tab, each of which contains 5 of the "zinc" nail heads.

The tips are completely clad in what appears to be copper. THis coverage extends about 7" towards the hub.

8 bolt holes

BAP 83229 (I think) stamped around the outer edge of what would appear to be the mounting surface
and
2663 or 2683
closer in towards the 3" dia. chamfered center hole

Arranged in a circle inward of the bolt holes are 8 ea. 1&1/2" dia circular
marks....created I think when the bolts squeezed the wood between two metal plates that had corresponding circular cutouts.

To me the wood looks like mahogany

The distal 34 inches of each blade (2 of them since I havent specified before this) are I believe wrapped in a yellowish fabric but layers of dope or just grime obscure the nature of this.

So that's it.
Can you tell me what it was on? Maybe where it served?
I have always assumed it to be military.

Also... there is a stamped "1" on the reverse side of the hub.

Thanks much for providing a place for me to go with this.
I love the web.

MP

[mporter88]

I neglected to post that the hub dia. is 11"
Thanks.

[dbahnvt]

It certainly sounds like a very early Flottorp model, probably for a Liberty engine based on the hub thickness. The "BAP" most likely refers to the Bureau of Aircraft Production, but I don't know if the number has any specific significance. You can check the hub dimensions against this chart (http://www.woodenpropeller.com/Hubmeasure.html) (follow the link on that page) to confirm the engine.

Can you post a picture?

[mporter88]

Thanks.
According to the chart you refered me to it can only fit a Liberty 12.
I will confirm the center hole size again later with a mic but it seems pretty clear.
I will post a picture later.

Thanks so much. Any more anecdotal information would be very much appreciated.

MP

[mporter88]

Hi.
Because I admin a web gallery for my wife's business I chose to post some photos there.

CLICK HERE (http://www.blancavaldez.com/bvgallery/index.php?action=showgal&cat=105/)

Because of the length of the thing it was tough to get any detail in the one overall shot so I also did a segmented panorama.

If for any reason anyone wants to download one of the photos; there is a button for that at the bottom right of the viewer window when you are viewing the medium sized images. Those downloadable photos are small for fast downloading (about 250kb).

I hope someone finds the pics interesting. I have enjoyed browsing this site and others.

Sincerely,
mporter88