Identifying German propeller.

[michael B]

Hi Everyone,

It has been twelve years that I posted on this forum and got my first propeller identified by Bob Gartner.
It appeared to be a Heine Propeller for a Fokker D VII .

Recently I bought another propeller and for me it remains (even with the help of Bob's books ) an unidentified object.

The marking on the propeller are:

180 PS
280 D (it is also 280 cm )
serialnumber: 1308 (or 1809) it is hard to see.

It consists of 7 layers of wood,
has metal sheeting
8 holes

So, as far as I come it is a German Propeller (hence the 'PS')
It might be an early one since there is no brand name or decals on the propeller.

I am very curious for what engine/airplane this propeller was used.

I added a lot of pictures so I hope someone will be able to solve this riddle.

Thanks very much in advance.

Michael B.
The Netherlands.

[Dbahnson]

In my limited experience most (but not all) early German propellers with metal sheathing were designed for use on flying boats or other seaplanes. No one has heard from Bob Gardner in some time and I fear the worst in that regard. I do have all of Bob's books but if you've already looked through those I don't think I can add anything.

[michael B]

Thanks for your reply.
Flying boats or seaplanes, ok, that's a new perspective.
In regard to the books of Bob, I have 2 volumes (III and IV), so I might not have covered his whole repertoire .
Thanks again and if you, or anyone else, has something that can help me to narrow this down I would be much obliged.

[Dbahnson]

Usually they are stamped with both diameter ("D") and pitch ("ST" in German), so if you can find that it can narrow down the possibilities.

[michael B]

HI, Yes I have been looking for that.
The only thing I can find is a veryf faint syllable, probably a "T" from 'ST', (see picture) but the rest is behind a dark spot which I can not clean of. The location of the marking would be the same as the D and PS. So I am afraid that that information is lost.
Last night I was looking at some German seaplanes. But the thing is there are very few of theses planes that had a 180PS engine. The only plausible one I can come up with is with a Mercedes DIII engine which started of at 160 PS but at the end (191 had 180 PS. The plane that comes into sight with that information might be a Gotha WD9 or WD12.




20210724_101645.jpg

[michael B]

I did some extra digging and came to the following.

Prop manufacturer: Garuda or Heine.
I go with Heine. It has got in total 7 layers of walnut and ash and Heine used this configuration. The absence of mahogany also makes it a bit easier to identify it on the basis of the woods used. And of course Heine produced al lot of props .

Engine: Mercedes DIII (in the end: 180 PS), but more likely the Argus As III (180 PS).

Plane: Gotha 9/12, even a Roland DII(a), but most likely the Albatros WI or II.
This based on engine use and the metal sheeting that was indeed used in the early days of the war (or even close before) fort seaplanes only.

Productionyear: Well, that's a tricky one. Since there are so few markings, and poorly done by the way, it might suggest early WWI or even close before. But to be honest productionyear for me is a bit of 'reversed thinking'. That is, looking at the productionperiod of the plane and engine would suggest is to be somewhere around 1916.

Please feel free to contradict all of the above. That way I will be more precise in my determination of this prop.

Picture is just an example, but nice to look at image (1).png .

Greetings, Michael.