Propeller Manufacturer Identification

[Jmurrie]

Hi, I have a propeller that's been in our family since the 1930's or earlier.
My father always said it was off a Jenny but can't tell.
The markings are,
8'0" x 5'3"
Shop 1469
S C 17488
OX5. (Engine type)?
An A7 stamp with a design, guessing inspection stamp
And a double circle with a three bladed prop and co. at the bottom Again guessing, but can't find a manufacturer that used that design. It looks like a Hartzell Liberty from other photos.

I've also seen some postings with a part of logs from McCook Field showing prop, engine and plane type. Does anyone know how to view those old records?

Thank you for any help
Jon

[Dbahnson]

It's the right diameter and pitch for a JN4, but it could also have been used in a number of other applications using an OX5 engine.


Do you have a picture of the whole prop?

[Jmurrie]

Hopefully it's clear enough. Hard to take with an iPhone and get close being 8'

I just can't find who used that propeller stamp. I don't remember ever seeing a decal on it My dad cleaned off original coating in the 70's. I've had it since '87.

[Dbahnson]

While there may be some characteristics of the stampings that were used by different manufacturers, even those tended to be changed frequently, and there were literally hundreds if not thousands of manufacturers producing propellers in the late teens and early twenties. Original decals are really the only way to identify the manufacturer unless the name was clearly stamped into the wood, which was very rare in my opinion, at least in the U.S.

Those other stamps are usually inspection stamps of some kind, and may not have been done by the manufacturer itself.

Also, it's not unusual to see a propeller shape and size that was made by multiple different manufactures using the same blueprint (drawing number), often under a government contract. The top one was manufactured by Starr Piano Company, the bottom one by Hartzell.

[Jmurrie]

Thanks. Saw on the photo gallery pictures there was links to view other propellers and some of them showed records from McCook Field with SC #'s
with type of plane it was on. Do you know how they found those records?
Wonder if I would have to visit the Smithsonian or go to Wright Museum to see old records.
Also a side note, my propeller moved about 3 times in the first 70 years, we moved it 9 times in the next 26. It did make it to Belgium and the UK during that time.

Jon

[Dbahnson]

I have the McCook Field records (which I got from NASM and the Library of Congress). They have drawing numbers, but not Signal Corps numbers. Signal Corps numbers seem to be fairly random and don't identify the manufacturer or the aircraft.

I'll try to upload them here or on my web site when I get a chance.