Stone Supreme Scimitar

[v8sharkie]

I've got a Stone Propeller Co. Supreme scimitar (Dayton, OH) that I think may be a pusher prop.

It's a 4 bolt.

DIMENSIONS:
Propeller Length: ~72"
Hub Thickness: 3.25"
Hub Diamater: 6"
Hub Bore: 1.75"
Bolt Circle: 5, 1/8"

Any thoughts on this one?

[Mtskull]

I’m going to stick my neck out now by saying that the size, position and number of bolt holes, along with the fact that there doesn’t appear to be any stamped data on the hub, strongly suggest that this is not an aircraft propeller.
I have seen it mentioned on this forum before, with reference to another “propeller”, that fans resembling aircraft propellers were once in common use in connection with some industrial or agricultural process (sorry, I can’t remember the exact application -hay dryer maybe?) and that, in my humble opinion, is what you have here.

[JR44]

I’m going to stick my neck out now by saying that the size, position and number of bolt holes, along with the fact that there doesn’t appear to be any stamped data on the hub, strongly suggest that this is not an aircraft propeller.
I have seen it mentioned on this forum before, with reference to another “propeller”, that fans resembling aircraft propellers were once in common use in connection with some industrial or agricultural process (sorry, I can’t remember the exact application -hay dryer maybe?) and that, in my humble opinion, is what you have here.

I think they are much more basic than this and not a scimitar shape.
The question here is where on earth did he get such an odd collection of propellers?

[Mtskull]

I think they are much more basic than this and not a scimitar shape.
The question here is where on earth did he get such an odd collection of propellers?

I stand willing to be corrected but am pretty sure that this prop cannot have been flown like that; only four bolts, positioned unusually close to the outside of the hub, would not have been sufficient to withstand the stresses of flight.

It did occur to me that back in the day, propellers that failed quality control and were deemed non-airworthy, or were simply surplus to requirements, might have been repurposed and sold as orchard fans or for other purposes. This could have happened at a stage of production before the bolt holes were drilled and the data stamped on the hub.
It seems likely that the same might also have been done with life-expired, damaged or otherwise unairworthy propellers.

Without wishing to speculate too much into somebody else’s business, that gives a possible explanation as to how an eclectic collection of old propellers could end up stashed in a barn somewhere?

[JR44]

I stand willing to be corrected but am pretty sure that this prop cannot have been flown like that; only four bolts, positioned unusually close to the outside of the hub, would not have been sufficient to withstand the stresses of flight.

It did occur to me that back in the day, propellers that failed quality control and were deemed non-airworthy, or were simply surplus to requirements, might have been repurposed and sold as orchard fans or for other purposes. This could have happened at a stage of production before the bolt holes were drilled and the data stamped on the hub.
It seems likely that the same might also have been done with life-expired, damaged or otherwise unairworthy propellers.

Without wishing to speculate too much into somebody else’s business, that gives a possible explanation as to how an eclectic collection of old propellers could end up stashed in a barn somewhere?

Yep, sounds reasonable.