S&S Aircraft

[melaniealbert]

I have a S&S Aircraft propeller. SER.S.1889
SS-SS.210
I have no idea about what plane this came off what year it is or what it may be worth. The guy that sold it to my mom told her it was from a gipsy moth training plane but I dont think S&S made them but I could be wrong. The propeller is in good shape.
If someone can help me figure out more about this prop it would be great.
Melanie

[D.Hicklin]

S & S prop

Hello from Dennis in Seattle.

Welcome to the forum and welcome to this site, as an owner of two S & S props, I would like to see the photos of your prop. Its best to shoot them outside in the natural sunlight. Looking forward to seeing the prop you have.

Sincerely,
Dennis Hicklin
Seattle Washington

[melaniealbert]

This is one. I will upload the rest of them. What is the average that they usually sell for?

[Dave]

Several hundred bucks in most cases. They are nice decorative pieces but they are extremely common as old props go. Apparently they were produced in large numbers just before a much more effective metal prop was introduced, so the wooden ones quickly became obsolete.

[D.Hicklin]

S & S propeller

Thanks for posting the picture of your prop, I hope you get it off of the wall and take it outside on a sunny day and get some more shots of it, the sunlight really shows off the details of the prop. These props in my opinion are what a prop should look like, in regards to size, hub thickness and overall quality of craftsmanship, but that is just me.

Ebay is a blessing and a curse when it comes to the value of these props. Some people want to shoot for the moon and be as bold as to ask $4000.00 for one that is pristine, and I have seen them go for as low as $250.00, a number of years back, there was a big supply of them in austraila, you could get them for $250.00 all day long, but the shipping to the US would get spendy as well, quickly!

I just bought my second one of these props from an individual from this site, he started at $600.00 and I went with $400.00, the shipping from nova scotia to seattle was at $95.00 and he used about $25.00 worth of bubble wrap and tape and cardboard as well, so a check for $525.00 was sent to him and all were happy, plus I sweented the deal with a couple of my shirts from oshkosh as well.

Bear in mind, that the person had seen a S & S prop on a website that was wanting $1600.00 for it and it was cearly a way of fishing for a buyer that really didnt know the value of these props, these props as dave as indicated, are not rare, there are litterally hundreds of them left over after variable pitch props were introduced.

What happens is simply this, people see these particular props and immediatley think they are worth the big bucks. If they are not all banged up and NOT gutted to fit a clock or a barometer, they are easily worth from $250.00 to $400.00 all day long, that leaves you room for the $100.00 or more for the shipping. The shipping gets spendy, especially if you choose to have a crate built, that adds dimension and weight to the price, I always go for bubble wrap and cardboard because these props are tuff and well built, when wrapped properly they make it just fine via UPS. But that is just my experience with it, yours may be totally different.

What you have there is a great wall hanging, I suggest you hang onto it if its not causing you any problems, but if its just screaming at you to be sold, then I hope this little bit of information is helpful to you. I am biased no doubt as I own two of them, but as an artist, I see them as pieces of artwork that is related to aviation, and that make great pieces in kinetic sculpture that lets them move when incorporated into various armatures made for them.

Again, and this is a general rule to consider, weather its a prop, vintage car, rare tractor, cheap oil painting in a thrift store that was an unrecognized picasso, its worth what ever an indivdual will pay for it on any particular day.

So there you are, good luck with what ever you are going to do with this prop. Be wise and dont do anything to it as far as restoration, original patina is hard to remanufacture.

Anxious to see more pictures with detail taken outside in the sunlight, use a black blanket if you have one for it to lay on, it helps the digital camera to adjust the balance of contrast when on autofocus.

Sincerely,
Dennis Hicklin
Seattle Washington

[sunita]

I have a S&S Aircraft propeller. SER.S.1889
SS-SS.210
I have no idea about what plane this came off what year it is or what it may be worth. The guy that sold it to my mom told her it was from a gipsy moth training plane but I dont think S&S made them but I could be wrong. The propeller is in good shape.
If someone can help me figure out more about this prop it would be great.