Identification help!

[Karen koenig]

Have a prop with the following info:

GERMANIA PROPELLER
N. 9999 (may be 9899)
D315
260PS

Would be interested to know what type plane this is from.

Thanks for any help!

[Bob Gardner]

Guten Tag Karen,

Welcome to the forum.

Your propeller is German and dates from 1918.

It is seldom possible to attribute a German prop to a specific aircraft because engines and propellers were matched to classes of aircraft.

Your data translate as;
D315 the diameter of the prop in cm
260ps 260 horsepower
9999 or 9989 the serial number.

The serial number is the highest that I have recorded for the maker Germania and suggests therefore that it was made in the latter half of 1918.

The horsepower of 260 indicates the Mercedes or Maybach engine.

These engines were used in three types of aircraft C, G and R where;
C indicates a two seat unarmed biplane, typically a recce aircraft.
G, an armed biplane bomber (Grossflugzeug - large aircraft) with two or three engines.
R, an armed biplane bomber with four engines (Riesenflugzeug - Giant Aircraft)

Within these classes the 260ps engine and a prop of around 315cm were used on;
Rumpler C IV
Albatros C X and C XII

Gotha G III, Va and Vb
Friedrichshafen G III

Staaken R VI

Data on these WW1 props can be difficult to read. Can you look on yours for anymore? Likely items are;
ZUG or EDULZUG
DRUCK, DRUK or EDULDRUCK
ST or STEIGUNG

And we would much like to see a photo of your prop, if possible, showing the entire prop and close ups of the Germania decal, if present, and of any data.

Mit freundliche Grüssen,

Bob

[Bob Gardner]

Karen,

An after-note; my description above relates to the German Airforce. The Imperial German Navy also used a 260ps engine in some of its aircraft but in comparatively small numbers, so statistically, it is most likely that your prop was not from a naval aircraft.

And any other data you find might enable me to link it to a particular of aircraft.

With kind regards,

Bob

[Karen koenig]

Danke!

I appreciate the information! I did not initially post any photos because this prop is, perhaps unfortunately, one that has been made into a clock. But it is a beautiful one! There is no desire to sell, only to discover their history - This one was purchased in Germany and brought to the states. The word Edulzug does appear on it, - no decals; but other letters are present and partially hidden - I have attached (AYBACH? Maybe?) Anymore information you can glean from the pictures would also be appreciated. Thank you so much!

[Dave]

Edulzug just refers to its use as a tractor (rather than pusher) configuration, and Maybach is the most likely engine.

[Karen koenig]

Thanks! Much appreciated.

[Bob Gardner]

Karen,

Thank you for the photographs and data, which help a great deal.

Many of the aircraft I listed were pushers (Druck) with the prop mounted at the back of the engine on each wing, so we can rule out many of the possibilities I first mentioned.

The Maybach engine was mostly built in 240ps form, whereas yours was the 1918 260ps engine which further whittles down the list, leaving two:

The Rumpler C7 with a Zug prop of 315cm diameter and a pitch of 188cm.
The Staaken R VI with a Zug prop of 315cm diameter and pitch of 190cm.

The pitch (Steigung, often shortened to St) of your prop is 200cm. There were often slight variations in the pitch of a prop, but never for the diameter.

I conclude that your prop might be from a Staaken R VI, a bomber much used in 1918, often against England.

At the end of WW1 in Britain and France, a cottage industry sprang up making artefacts out of surplus propellers, and more rarely in Germany. So yours is both elegant and rare.

With kind regards,

Bob

[Karen koenig]

Thanks again!

The information you provided was much appreciated! Interesting to know some of the prop history. This forum has been very helpful.