Found a butchered old Dirigible Prop. Help needed

[Rick B]

Found a late 40's Drone prop and am hook so I got a call on a prop and picked it up today. Only problem is the overall length is now 43" but was 8'6" at one time. Any help on this one would be great info on center which is hard to read all so may be mistaken on part, is as follows.

UNION DIRIGIBLE . LANG PROPELLER 0 36 PITOH DIA 8 FT 6 IN NO5030 L.H

Thanks,,Rick B

[Rick B]

Pictures

Here are a few pics. Rick B

[Dave]

Maybe a long shot, but there were a number of props built like this one that had model numbers S.E. 50x0 (e.g. 5060) where the third digit represented a different pitch, and I think the low numbers were flatter pitch, which yours is. The "S.E" stood for "Steam Engineering", but that might have been eliminated in yours. All of them were pushers, which is why they were left hand thread, which yours also is. They were all part of a 4 blade combination. You could test this theory by measuring the hub thickness and the bolt hole circle diameter. If the thickness is a close to 4" and the bolt hole circle is 8", then it's a pretty good bet that it's one of those.

[Bob Gardner]

Interesting prop. Lang was an English maker sent to to America by the Royal Navy at the request of the USN in 1917 to advise on how to mass produce props using wood workers such as furniture makers and piano makers and he also made props for the USN himself.

This is the first dirigible prop that I have seen by him. May I use your photo in my book? By chance I am writing the section of Lang in America at the moment.

With kind regards,

Bob

[Bob Gardner]

Postscript; The stamp for Lang Propeller indicates that it was made between August and December 1917. After that the company was called Lang Products.

If any other forumite has an American Lang prop, I would appreciate details and a photo!

With kind regards,

Bob

[Bob Gardner]

I have googled Union Dirigible without success. Presumably it refers to one of the craft from B1 to B20 made by Goodyear and powered by the OXX engine? These seem to be the only ones around in 1917. Can any one advise?

With kind regards,

Bob

[Rick B]

Bob, you are welcome to use this and I can get high resolution pictures and email them to you if wanted? I appreciate the help everyone,, and of course would need to know when you book comes out so I can buy a few signed copies?? By the way I am in the states, Ohio to be exact. I am betting the prop smashed into the ground and the ends were cut off to get rid of the mess. Someone then took it home for a reason. Thanks,,Rick B

Rborecky at mindspring dot com
Edited to this phonetic form to protect you from the bots that scavenge addresses for spam. Bob

[Rick B]

I am about 45 minutes away from the Goodyear blimp facility. Now you have me wondering. Thanks,,Rick B

Quote on their blimps...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodyea...Rubber_Company


In 1911 Goodyear started experimenting with airship design. It later manufactured airships and balloons for the U.S. military during World War I. The transport and reconnaissance capabilities that Goodyear provided contributed significantly to the Allied victory.

1917 — made airships & balloons for the U.S. military during World War I

Another good article,,,

http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/en...oodyear-Blimps

[Rick B]

This paragraph is tickling me pink as they say. It points towards me owning one of the propellers from one of the 9 built and sent to war????? Rick B


The center of zeppelin production in the United States was Akron, Ohio. In 1916, the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company purchased land near Akron to build a plant that could produce zeppelin aircraft. In 1917, the main Goodyear Company created a subsidiary known as the Goodyear Zeppelin Company to manufacture the zeppelins. That same year, the firm received a contract from the federal government to manufacture nine zeppelins for the United States military during World War I. Unfortunately for the company, its manufacturing facilities were not complete in 1917, so Goodyear completed the first airships inside of a large amusement park building in Chicago, Illinois. The military used these airships to bomb and to spy upon enemy positions.

[Rick B]

Bob,
I was wondering if you finished this book? Thanks,,Rick B

[Bob Gardner]

'Morning Rick,

The book is nearly published. The proof is due any day now from the printer. If there are no errors, we'll have the book on sale (only from us) in about a month. As soon as I am happy with the proof, I'll send an e-mail to everyone on my address list announcing that the book can be ordered in advance at a pre-publication price from my website, www.aeroclocks.com.

There are sixty-one pages describing Dashwood Lang of which eighteen pages describe Lang in America and two describe your prop with a credit to you for the photographs.

I am most grateful that you brought your prop to this forum. I believe that everything I know about Lang in America has been learned here. Well done Dave Bahnson for founding it.

With kind regards,

Bob