HEINE Propeller for Gnome

[gino]

Hi,

Here my Heine propeller with following details;

160 PS
GNOM (E is missing)
D 255
ST 240
HEINE
N12487

STAND 1180
GEPRUFT P&W

On the flat side of the hub 22, 5 and A

Blades have been cut by 6 cm each side.
Weight 13 kg

I assume, this propeller could have been made for the Fokker DRI!
Any other possibilities? production date?

Thanks for your help,
Gino

[gino]

One more picture.

[Dbahnson]

I don't think the Dr1 used a Gnome engine.

Bob Gardner may be able to help next time he checks in.

[Bob Gardner]

Gino,

Congratulations on finding this propeller. I have only seen one other Heine prop for the 160ps Gnome engine. Your prop is extremely rare. And I'm grateful that you told us about it and that I can add it to my database.

Probably, your prop was used on a Fok E IV or the Fok D III. It is unlikely that the Dr I was ever fitted with a Gnome 160ps engine. A 160ps engine was fitted to Dr I werknummer 1830 but it might have been an engine of Le Rhone design, the Ur III. (Oberursel nomenclature was U for a Gnome design, as in U III, and Ur for a le Rhone design as in Ur III). As an aside, it also seems possible that Idflieg might have used the term Gnome as a generic title for French rotary engines in general. Hence the 160ps le Rhone engine tried in Dr I wn 1830 was described as a Gnome. The present day view of experts in this field is that a Gnome 160ps engine was never fitted to a Fok Dr I.

It is also possible that the prop was intended for a Gnome 160ps engine taken from a captured French aircraft for use in a German aircraft: and it might also have been a replacement for a captured allied aircraft which the Germans wanted to get back into the air for evaluation

The 160ps Gnome / U III was trialled in the Fok E IV and the Fok D III but proved to be unreliable and was not used further.

Hence your propeller is exceedingly rare.

With kind regards,

Bob

Postscript; it has taken two hours of enjoyable research to compose this answer, for which also many thanks.

[Bob Gardner]

Oh! Another postscript. You asked about a date; circa 1916.

The serial number of the other similar Heine prop is 13650.

Bob

[gino]

Hi Bob,

Thank you for the reply.
I did not expected this to be a very rare propeller, so I am very
happy with it.

Gino

[gino]

Bob,

Also, thank you very much to spend so much time to answer this thread.

[Bob Gardner]

Thank you Gino for your kind words. It grieves me when I do a few hours research for someone on this forum and they don't reply.

Bob

[gino]

Bob,

By the way, do you have already an idea when your next book about German props to be published? Looking forward for this.

Gino

[Bob Gardner]

Gino,

I have finished writing the book which is now complete in draft form, but this does not mean publication is imminent.

Firstly I plan to leave it soak for two or three weeks and then read again what I have written, where I will discover that some is awful and will need to be rewritten more clearly.

Then it will go to my Editor, also known as Mrs Gardner, to insert the programs for headings, page numbers, margins and everything else that occurs on the first twelve pages, including correcting the names of some of the people who have helped me, for example such as changing Vandormoel to Vandormael.

Meanwhile, I shall be designing the front and back covers, part of which is checking that no copyright charges exist for the poster I have chosen as a basis.

Then we will send it to our printers who about a month later will send us a proof copy, where we'll discover that the process has darkened some WW1 photographs, which were typically poor to start with, that we have to lighten or remove. There are often other printing errors to correct. After that we'll get a second draft and if that's OK we'll order a print run which will arrive a month later.

But I can guarantee all my readers that it will be published before 2045.

With kind regards,

Bob

[gino]

Bob,


Goodluck.
Looking forward to buy one.

Gino