A family gift from John Macready....

[FamilyTreasurer]

Hello! Someone in my family has a propeller that was gifted to my great grandpa by John Macready. They were friends/acquaintances. (I’m not sure). The friendship and the gift are certain but family lore said it was from the 1st transcontinental flight. However, after only a teensy bit of research, it’s clear it is not. So, I want to know what anyone can tell me about a prop made before 1924 (the year it was gifted). Made of a deep brown wood with no paint or fabric. It does have a flush wide copper(?) edging in a lovely scoop shape on the tips. I believe Functional, not decorative. (Not thin and not far down the blades). It does have numbers imprinted on it. They appear to be C195 or C135 and then either 19 or 13 pressed beneath it. We have no interest in selling it. We just want to know what it’s story might be. Thank you in advance for your time and knowledge!

[Mtskull]

Sounds interesting....

Realistically, to have any chance at all of identifying or even narrowing down the possibilities as to the origin of your propeller, some more information is needed, the more the better.

Some photographs would be very useful, ideally showing:
-Full length (front & back)
-Any markings, decals or unique detail
-Close up of front & back and top & bottom of hub.

Also, a series of accurate measurements of:
Length
Hub thickness
Hub diameter
Bolt hole size
Bolt circle diameter
Centre bore diameter

Rgds,

Andy

[FamilyTreasurer]

Thank you Andy! I will collect all of that info and post it back here as soon as I go there. Probably next week. I appreciate your answering!

[FamilyTreasurer]

Here’s what I found out “The prop is 8’ long by 7 5/8” at the widest part of the blade the hub is 2 1/4” with 8 bolt holes the copper sheathing I believe was done professionally at some later point to be a repair on the crack at the left side (longer and more visible from the back side )“.

first letter is c with a tail on the upper part of the c then a blurred 1? Then95 with 19 underneath and possibly another in the bolt hole?

[FamilyTreasurer]

Here are the photos back in the 20s and current day.

[Mtskull]

What the photos tell us so far is that the propeller has definitely been mounted on an aircraft (this may seem like stating the obvious but a lot of propellers were disposed of, unused, in the aftermath of WW1). The hub it was bolted to has left a witness mark in the form of the circle just outside of the bolt circle.
This is useful in that it can tell us the size of the metal hub, which will help determine engine type. If you could provide the measurement of the diameter of this circle then that would be very helpful.

Metal sheathing was a common addition to propellers of this era; it is likely that it was fitted at the factory.

Which part of the hub does your measurement of two and a quarter inches refer to? -In order to progress this further I need the dimensions of:

-Metal hub diameter (as described above)
-Bolt circle diameter (i.e. the distance between centres of opposite bolt holes)
-Hub thickness (distance between the flat faces of the hub)
-Bolt hole size (best measured by trying bolts of a known size in the holes)
-Centre bore diameter.

[FamilyTreasurer]

Neat!!! I’ll be there Wed to take them if I don’t get them sooner.

[FamilyTreasurer]

All but 2 measurements... others coming. 😁

[FamilyTreasurer]

Getting hub depth and bolt gauge...
Did you notice it doesn’t have the copper in the pics with the kids? I think the cracks confirm it’s the same propeller though...

[FamilyTreasurer]

Looks like 4” hub depth and 3/8” holes but possibly metric on all

[Mtskull]

Hi

All of the dimensions that you have provided are entirely consistent with the propeller having been fitted to a Curtiss OX-5 or OXX engine. These were fitted to a number of different aircraft types during the WW1 era and through the 1920s but, by virtue of sheer numbers built, I would suggest that, on the balance of probabilities, it would most likely have been fitted to a Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny”.

In this context, the “C” prefix to the number stamped on the hub possibly stands for “Curtiss”.

Wikipedia has some good information about both the OX-5 and the Jenny.

I would just like to add that most of the credit for identifying your propeller belongs not to me but to others, who have made their expertise and the fruits of their own research, freely available on this forum.

Andy

[Mtskull]

Getting hub depth and bolt gauge...
Did you notice it doesn’t have the copper in the pics with the kids? I think the cracks confirm it’s the same propeller though...

It is difficult to tell from an old, possibly faded monochrome photograph but I believe I can discern the copper sheathing on the blade to the left in the old photo (the darker mark I think is the shadow of some foliage).
The sheathing in the modern photos is to all intents and purposes identical to that on this JN-4 propeller:

https://www.aviationart.com/products...lane-propeller

Incidentally, the finish of propeller in these photos appears to have been “restored” for display purposes. Please do not be tempted to do this with your example; it will detract from, not enhance its value.

[FamilyTreasurer]

Thank you so much! What fun it has been to wake up and see what you’ve had to say! I very much appreciate yours and everyone else’s willingness to share their knowledge.