Old Curtiss Prop

[backah4]

I got this prop when I bought my Parents house. My Dad bought it years ago and thought it was the propeller that was on a Curtiss Pusher flown by William S. Luckey when he crashed and was killed.
The prop has only W.S Luckey stamped on it.

[Dave]

Nice. I haven't seen any props with the pilot's name stamped on it, but I suppose back then anything went as far as identification. It is left hand rotation, which would probably be required for a pusher configuration on that model. The metal sheathing is unusual as well.

[backah4]

The day WS LUCKEY crashed he was trying to land and the crowd had gone onto where he was trying to land, he brought it in short and the plane stalled. The prop hit one of the iron rails of a train track. One of the ends has a dent the same shape as a train track trail.

[Dave]

I read about the crash, and it seems he was thrown from the plane and died of a spine fracture. I can see a prop surviving that kind of accident, especially with a pusher.

Any idea how your Dad came to buy it?

[backah4]

I'm not really sure where my dad got it. I do know he and my mom had been on a flea market safari, (their term) to New York and Vermont and he got it then.
I guess Luckey bounced when the tail hit the tracks, so the prop and tail boom must have had kind of a glancing blow so that's why the prop survived the hit.
I guess from what I have read he got into flying late in life but was very good at it.

[backah4]

I might consider selling the prop, but I have no Idea what it is worth.

[Dave]

I'd be interested in considering buying it, but in all fairness I think that means I shouldn't be the one to rely on for setting a value.