how do we ID our family prop

[gww]

Propeller & Markings

Blade Dia 2438 mm
Hub thickness 149 mm
Hub Dia 209 mm
Hub bore 79 mm
Bolts 8 * 12mm
Bolt circle 170 mm
Wood Mahogany
Rotation from front of plane is anticlockwise

Markings (some very hard to read)

AB7873 R
D2 P1710
VIPER ENG

N W Divers

G711 N70
10380


We have 4 squares with a arrow head above them.
At the tip of the arrow head is the letter A
At the base of the arrow 488
One square has in it AID & 7T3
One square has in it A D & 7T3
One square has in it D & 5
The last one is blank

[Bob Gardner]

Welcome to the forum gww!

Your data translates as follows
AB7873 This is likely to be AB7673 which is the Air Board drawing number for the SE5A aircraft
D2 D2414 diameter 2414mm
P1710 Pitch 1710mm
VIPER ENG Wolseley Viper, (licence-built French Hispano-Suiza engine of 200hp made by Wolseley)
N W Divers Probably the maker but likely to have been mis-read. Could we have a close up photograph please?

G711 N70 Number 70 (out of 100) in Batch number 711, dates from early 1918
10380 Serial number of the propeller

At the tip of the arrow head is the letter A Indicates an Air Board propeller
At the base of the arrow 488 I don't know
One square has in it AID & 7T3 These are air worthiness stamps of the Aeronautical Inspection department; usually there are four, each added at a different stage of manufacture
One square has in it A D & 7T3 AID 7T3
One square has in it D & 5 AID ?5? We need a close up photo please

With kind regards,

Bob

[gww]

Hi thank you for that information.
My Grand father was in the RFC #74 squadron in France 1918-19.

The photos some didn't show all the markings as some are faint. We read what we could with a light & magnifine glass.
The NW Divers is in 4 places on the front of the hub.

[Bob Gardner]

Thank you for your excellent photographs.

I suspect that all four AID stamps are from the same inspector, 7T3.

The name NW Divers is very probably the name of the craftsman who made the prop. It was the custom in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century in some firms, such as cabinet makers and car makers for the man who made the item to stamp his name on it. (By 1918 most car makers, cabinet makers, interior decorators and other wood workers had been conscripted to make aircraft propellers). Darracq, for example, stamped each prop in this way and I have recorded seven different names on Darracq made props.

With kind regards,

Bob