Trying to trace a Sensenich Military contract propeller from 1945

[sensenich_norway]

Hi forum,

It would be fantastic if anyone could help me in my quest to trace the history of a propeller that belongs to the family.

I don't care about value because it is not going anywhere, but since it has been in Norway for over 30 years, it ought to have some kind of traceable pro WW2 history. If I can find out the engine, I should be able to identify the aircraft type since it must have been used in Norway at the time. And that ought to limit the number of plausible aircrafts. Or so my thinking goes...

Anyway, it has "Assem 41G2325" written on it which using the sensenich date pdf often referred to here -->

http://woodenpropeller.com/Sensenichdates.pdf

...tells me it was manufactured in late 1945.

If I go to:

http://www.modernwoodenpropellers.com/sensenich.htm

...I conclude that it was produced under a military contract signed in -41. Unfortunately 41G2325 is not listed under the cross-referenced number designations so I see the engine type.

Memories of earlier research into its history have me remembering it was used by Canadians somehow (?). Memory is vague, but there was something about Canada and possibly some kind of aircraft used for training new pilots.

Ring a bell with anyone?

Grateful for any help I can get.


Cheers!

[sensenich_norway]

Hmm...

I think I found it myself. The exiled Royal Norwegian Air Force was trained throughout the war in Canada using Fairchild Cornell P19's and P26's. The propeller in this image:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Li...rway_PT-19.jpg

and ones in other images of "Little Norway" aircrafts I've seen now are very similar to ours. So I guess our propeller is a spare shipped for maintenance purposes when the exile ended and the Fairchilds could fly out of Norway.

Feels great to know... adds a bit of life to the thing.

[sensenich_norway]

I do have a question though.

I've never thought about it before, but our propeller has a very cumbersome metal hub. Seeing pictures of other old propellers, this appears to be disassembled which would make the propeller much lighter of course.

Would it be stupidity to remove this hub? Can it even be done? (I don't have the propeller here and can't remember how it looks).

Thanks!

[Dave]

I do have a question though.

I've never thought about it before, but our propeller has a very cumbersome metal hub. Seeing pictures of other old propellers, this appears to be disassembled which would make the propeller much lighter of course.

Would it be stupidity to remove this hub? Can it even be done? (I don't have the propeller here and can't remember how it looks).

Thanks!

It can be done, although it might involve a lot of gentle tapping here and there. But if the propeller is original and it still has the hub, I would leave it intact. Most of them don't have the hub, so yours would likely be more valuable to hand down to the next generation.