libety/hartzell prop what aircraft does it fit?

[neil greenstein]

I have aquired the following: prop is 11 and X303 ,also has two anchors with the letters US, and two decals on the blades with LBERTY and Hartzell walnut propeller co. Piqua Ohio. also are the words "built on honor" I would like to know if anyone knows what aircraft it was made for. The prop is in excellent condition with copper tips and does not appear to ever have been installed.

[Dave]

I've been trying to find that out for years myself, as I have an identical one. Years ago I wrote to Jimmy Reedy, as senior executive at Hartzell who was trying to assemble some of the Hartzell history for a book he was writing. He called me when he got my letter and explained that the decals were very rare and "probably worth more than the propeller" (which he thought was worth about $1000. He said that Hartzell originally began manufacturing walnut propellers with the "Liberty" trademark but was ordered by a court to stop because of an infrinement on the use of "Liberty" to describe the newly designed Liberty engine. There were only 4 models of propellers that used that logo, and subsequent logos replaced "Liberty" simply with "Hartzell".

The hub on your propeller is consistent with a Liberty engine, and was almost certainly intended to be used on one of the many early Navy flying boats during WW1. I just don't know which one, as there were many variations.

[neil greenstein]

Thanks Dave. That's some great information.