Curtiss 4 Blade Propeller

[Dan Lucas]

Dave, I spoke to you a few years ago about this prop, but maybe this forum may help answer my questions. I have a Curtiss 4 blade propeller in great condition and I have been searching for years for the type of plane it came off; It looks like a prop for a HS2L (see attached photo) I believe this is a left hand pusher or right hand tractor. I would guess it was built around 1917 ish? There is a small circle stamped with a CEC 1 on the hub. Again, any info would be fantastic as I have exhausted all other resources.

Curtiss Propeller #996
OAK
D 6' 8" P 7' 8 1/2"
EX11723
INSP N002996
Contract #56253
Serial #20752
Hub diameter 10"
Center Bore 3 1/8"
Bolt size 1/2"
Bolt circle 8





Edit: pictures linked

[dbahnvt]

Your propeller is designated Right Hand whether it's a pusher or a tractor, and the HS2L would have used a Left Hand propeller similar to this one , which is the two blade component of a 4 blade "stacking" arrangement. You'll notice that yours is the opposite rotation.

I remember trying to find out what that fit sometime ago and came up empty handed, but I'll look through what I've acquired since then to see if anything new has turned up.

[Dan Lucas]

Dave, I thought I would post this after our last conversation just in case somebody else needs to go down this road. After many years of research I have discovered the past of my propeller, here it is in a nutshell.

This propeller has only one single reference in history, there was a 1922 report from the US Army Air Service Engineering Division at McCook Field Dayton, Ohio where they describe my propeller as a NAVY 4 Blade Propeller - which they were asked to test to destruction as they were the leading service aeronautical engineering organization at the time and the NAVY had no such testing ability then. It was noted as an Oak prop covered with a cotton fabric and tipped with Monel metal weighing 48 1/2 pounds without the hub.Incredibly the serial number of my prop #996 was the one tested on a 410 HP Liberty engine, but there is no record of it ever being mounted to any aircraft.

This information was given to me by;
Dan Hagedorn
Archives Research Team Leader and Adjunct Curator
Latin American Aviation
Archives Division MRC 322 National Air & Space Museum
PO Box 37012
Washington, DC 20013-7012
202-633-2320