Interesting Small Propeller?

[VISCOUNT]

I bought this propeller yesterday. The seller has no history other than it belonged to his recently deceased father-in-law who collected transport arifacts over many years. The father-in-law was possibly in his 90's or older. It may have been obtained in the north-west of England many years prior to WW2.

There are no markings or stamps to the propeller. It's width is about 36.5 inches (93 cms). The distance between the centres of opposing bolt holes is almost exactly 2.5 inches (6.4 cms.)

I can't tell if the tips of the propeller have been trimmed or not. But there appears to be an intentional rounding off of the leading edge to the airflow of the tips. My pictures probably explain this better than I can.

I have annotated some of the pictures as 'front' and 'rear'. But this is my guess.

I own several British WW1 aircraft propellers and it's construction and colour appear very similar.

Any suggestions as to it's use and age will be gratefully received.


Many Thanks,
Bob.

[VISCOUNT]

Some more.

[VISCOUNT]

And more photos.

[VISCOUNT]

This earlier thread relates to the same propeller.

http://woodenpropeller.com/forumvB/s...ead.php?t=1581

Best Regards
Bob

[racer2_uk]

Hi Viscount,

Very nice prop, maybe some sort of drive for an ancillary, fuel pump or generator ?

You beat me to it.



Andy

[VISCOUNT]

Hi Viscount,

Very nice prop, maybe some sort of drive for an ancillary, fuel pump or generator ?

You beat me to it.



Andy

Hi Andy

Apologies for having pipped you at the post

At three feet across I suspect that it's too big for a fighter fuel pump or generator so maybe for a bomber? The HP 0/400 had a four-blade generator.

Regards,
Bob

[Bob Gardner]

Greetings Bob,

Congratulations. It looks much better in your photographs than it did on eBay. It is a splendid thing.

I don't know what it is either but I have some observations to make. It is certainly constructed in the French and British manner, and it has an aerofoil section. The four bolt hub is reminiscent of British auxiliary props designed by the Royal Aircraft Factory. The most substantial of these were made in the1930's and 1940's to provide power for the winches on target tug aircraft, where the winches had to cope with 2-3000 metres of cable. But these props were not nearly as massive in construction as your prop, although of similar diameter. I doubt if the power that your prop could transmit could be delivered or received through four small bolt holes.

This curly shape is much like the Levasseur-Vickers prop of 1912, discussed in this forum about twelve months ago.

When I saw it in eBay I thought it must have been used as a ceiling fan. Your photographs show that it is of aeronautical design, so I am inclined to think that it was used as a ceiling fan in an aviation office, perhaps that of Vickers. Or possibly someone bought a surplus L-V prop and converted it to a fan.

In other words, I don't what it is either. This is a familiar state of affairs for a researcher of aircraft props. If your experiences are anything like mine, you'll find your prop in a few years time in a far corner of a faded photograph from 1912, and rush excitedly down stairs to tell the bemused dog, the cat, your wife or anyone else within range.

With kind regards,

Bob