Help Needed!! i have no idea what i have?

[mrc]

Hi Everyone

Sorry I am new to forum bit, I was given a propeller when I was 17 and just found it in the loft last week. sadly it was cut in to three bits and I only have two of them. the bit missing is around 2 1/2 foot long

The first part is around 6 1/2 foot long and has the hub with holt holes, it has a copper or brass ? tip at the ends please see photos, and has on the hub written,

PA 5274 LH
SUNBEAM MAORI
260 HP
D3760 P2500

but I have no idea what this means and sorry the photos are poor but I just toke them as I was leaving for work this morning.

the second part is around 3 1/2 foot long and was cleaned up by someone many years ago and is the same as the big one in size.

can anyone help me to find out what this came from?

many thanks Pete

[mrc]

update

hi

i have just been doing a little looking and i think it might be from a Fairey Campania f.16 or a f.22 which had a sunbeam engine any one think this sounds about right?

[Dave]

I don't have that drawing number on the WW1 listings, nor does it appear on this page, which is quite extensive. Certainly the size suggests an early usage (maybe shortly after WW1 ?), but unless Bob Gardner can chime in with a better insight I'm not sure where else to go.

[mrc]

hi Dave

i have been in contact with the RAF Museum Reserve Collectionand they have said the following

"From the excellent information you have provided I had no trouble in identifying this airscrew as having been manufactured for the Fairey IIIA or Fairey IIIB aircraft of the Royal Naval Air Service during the First World War. The Fairey IIIA was a large carrier borne reconnaissance aircraft while the Fairey IIIB utilized the same airframe but was fitted with floats and was used as a bomber.
FA 5274 LH Drawing number of the propeller which identifies which aircraft would have used it. LH denotes a Left Handed prop or to put it another way, if you viewed it from behind it would turn anti-clockwise.
SUNBEAM MAORI 260 HP Is the type of engine fitted to the aircraft, rated at 260 horse power
D3760 Diameter in millimetres. British designers used metric measurements in propeller design until about 1920
P2500 Pitch of the propeller in millimetres. The pitch is the distance the prop would travel in one revolution under ideal circumstances
"

do you think this would be about right?

pete

[Dave]

Yes, that's right.

It is in fact listed in the WW1 list, as I was looking at PA 5274 instead of FA5274. Actually, the number listed is FA52743 and there is no data listed for that number, but when you look at FA4475M you'll see your diameter, pitch, and engine listed for that model, so I'm assuming the the RAF Museum assumed that this is simply some variation of that model, which I believe is the correct assumption.

See attached scan from WW1 British Airplane Propellers from the Windsock Datafiles (reprinted here without permission).

[mrc]

what sort of price would i have to put on this propeller for my house Insurance?

[Dave]

I'd be surprised if any insurance company would cover it for more than $100 to $200. Different story if it were intact.

[Bob Gardner]

MRC;

An interesting and very rare WW1 aviation artefact but, from a financial perspective, solitary prop blades are worth about 10% of the value of a complete prop; in this case about £200 GBP.

With kind regards,

Bob

[Bob Gardner]

Pete,

A postscript; the drg no FA5274 was used on the F22 and Campania. This was the standard prop for these aircarft from July 1918 onwards.

I also have FA52743 listed. This is probably the third modification of the drg no 5274.

With kind regards,

Bob