Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Prop given to great uncle by wilbur wright

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Prop given to great uncle by wilbur wright

    This prop was given to my great uncle by wilbur wright, it hung on a barn for awhile just trying to find out info about it. I was in contact with a museum in dayton as well as hartzell. anyinfo would be nice.
    Attached Files

  • #2
    From the photo I cannot read what is stamped into the hub. Would you please post it here? Thanks.

    Lamar

    Comment


    • #3
      Are there numbers or letters stamped on the other side of the hub? I will look up the series number (577) later today, but I'll venture a wild guess that it's for a Nieuport. You may find the letters "Nie Mono" on the other side.
      Dave

      Comment


      • #4
        Yes, according to the AEF document I have from 1918, that model (577) is a French Levasseur propeller made to be used on a Nieuport 28 with a Gnome 150 HP engine. It should be 2.55 meters (about 8', 4") long and you can also check the hub dimensions on this chart. It should match the row that says Gnome 160.
        Last edited by Dave; 12-12-2008, 06:23 PM.
        Dave

        Comment


        • #5
          more pics and thanks for the info, your dead on. Dave, i know you said 1918 should i presume that this was made between 1914 and 1918?
          Attached Files

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by chris02_84 View Post
            more pics and thanks for the info, your dead on. Dave, i know you said 1918 should i presume that this was made between 1914 and 1918?
            No, not necessarily. It was designed around then, but could have been manufactured sometime later than that, as long as they were still flying that Nieuport model.
            Dave

            Comment


            • #7
              Wilbur Wright died in 1912 of typhoid fever. This seems inconsistent with the design and manufacture dates of the prop.

              Lamar

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by MWP_Lamar View Post
                Wilbur Wright died in 1912 of typhoid fever. This seems inconsistent with the design and manufacture dates of the prop.

                Lamar
                Good point. It almost certainly wasn't manufactured during Wilbur's lifetime.
                Dave

                Comment


                • #9
                  My Grandmothers Uncle, Perle Whitehead was a friend of Orville Wright. Not sure how or when the propeller was given to him. sorry for the confusion. Most of my dad's family lived around or in the dayton area for many years. my grandmother and her brother and sister reside in lebanon, ohio. I'm originally from lorain, ohio. The prop was on a barn for a long time till the barn burned down. The prop has some darker spots on it from the fire.

                  Is there any kind of documents that might have propellers listed to the aircraft it might have been on? I assume that these were a dime a dozen back then and discarded regularly....
                  Last edited by chris02_84; 12-15-2008, 02:40 PM.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by chris02_84 View Post
                    Is there any kind of documents that might have propellers listed to the aircraft it might have been on? I assume that these were a dime a dozen back then and discarded regularly....
                    Dave seems to have narrowed it down quite a bit already. You won't get any closer than that. If you mean specific aircraft like "John Smith's Jenny c/n 12345" the answer is no because wooden props were something of a commodity item. They were broken or damaged and replaced pretty regularly.

                    Lamar

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Keep in mind that a lot of these were never actually on an aircraft. They were kept around as spares and when the aircraft became obsolete (which happened quickly during WW1), the propellers became surplus, and were often saved, and sometimes used for firewood. Usually if they have been used you can see an indentation around the face of the hub where the wood was compressed against the metal hub.
                      Dave

                      Comment

                      Working...
                      X