Trying to Find Info/Price on Prop I bought

[dams]

Paid $350 for it, I was told it was a WWII Propellor. Approx 40 inches, Thanks for your help!

edit: Sorry, just read the "Early" description, this one would be "Modern," I think.

[Dave]

I've moved it to "Modern".

It's a UAV prop. The price is probably in the right ballpark.

[D.Hicklin]

just curious ?

Welcome to the site. Ahhh yes, pictures often tell the tale. First of all, let me say this, Dave and Lamar and Bob gardener are the gold standard of factual information on this site, so I always try to wait to see what they say first. But I will add this and you can see the enclosed pictures to help give you some sort of a gage of size.

When you see the decal on the prop that says " globe" and then look at the information on the hub and how its two different types of ways to get that information on it, there is stamped information that looks different from the bolder black letters that say sensenich. The measurements are what threw me off, that prop is half the size for a prop that would go on a taylor craft or a j-3 cub, so it may very well have been on some type of a drone aircraft, the 6 bolt pattern kind of threw me off as well. As stated, I will wait to see what the true prop " pros " have to say about your prop and its value. I will tell you this, regarless of its condition, and this is just me, I would not paid over $150.00 for it. But that is besides the point, the deal is done now.

Anxious to see the responces that come in on this one. The Eagle air propeller I have, has a 6 bolt pattern on it, but its 68 1/2 inches long and its made for J-3 cubs and for taylorcraft type aircraft. I think you can see that a prop that is only 40 inches long certainly isnt going to pull a globe or a temco swift through the air. The pros will sort this one out.

Respectfully.
J. Dennis Hicklin
Seattle Washington.

[dams]

Thanks for the reply, im just excited that it could actually of been on a drone, pretty cool.

[MWP_Lamar]

Thank you for your kind words Dennis.

No question it's a prop for a target drone. Dennis' price point is more generous than mine even.

Lamar

[dams]

Do you mean you would pay less retail than $150 so it's worth less than $75? I'm not too worried about overpaying, it was the first antique I've ever bought, and will probably keep it for a long time. Maybe I'll research things a little more next time tho...

[Dave]

Fact is, the market for these is so small that there really isn't a "market price" for most of them. It's a lot easier with things like guns or model trains or stamps, where there is enough activity to monitor sales, but all you can really come up with on many props is a ballpark figure and a wide range of variation.

[D.Hicklin]

My 8 cents worth " experience wise "

Let me offer this little story and this little observation that may shed some light on the statement I made in regards to the price you paid for your "drone prop". Ok a bit of history, long story short, when I was young and didnt really know anything about anything, let alone much about elements of patina and appreciation of history, such as "airscrews". I was a total novice at such elements. My grandfather had this very cool older sensenich prop, probably off of a stinson 108-3, or possibly from a fairchild model 24, we shall never know at this point.

It was saved from what ever junk pile he found it in, and it had the classic carmalized old wax and varnish on it, plus the fact that a lot of the leading edge metal was missing and there was just the tiny holes left. When I was out of the military at the young age of 21, I liberated the prop from my grandfathers junk pile and I then wrecked what ever patina it had originally because I thought I would clean it up and make it look like new. I with my various cleaners and such, simply wiped out amazing desirable patina that would have been best left alone.

Then I had a revelation in my first year of college and I decided to go travel rather than stay focused on my studies. I sold all of my collected antiques that I had at that point, and I had a yard sale and sold my grandfathers prop for the meager sum of $45.00 to a friend that I still know that lives in my old home town. He still has it and will never part with it, because he loves the way it looks.

Many years later at Oshkosh over in the old fly market. As a total impulse buy and I was having great sales of my shirts, I saw a very cool S & S prop from an avro anson, it had been bought that morning for the sum of $350.00, and he jacked the price to $730.00, and was firm on it as he was hard up for rent money. I had the money in my pocket, and I thought, this is a great prop, with patina and history, and I have the money in my pocket, and I could make that money back easily with good sales at the show, which I did. I still own this prop, and you can see it on my profile page, I have done nothing to it since I got it, I learned the hard way. Its not for sale.

Now about your prop, with all due respect to you, and congratulations on your first " antique " purchase, it isnt a rare prop, and its not anything special, that being said, if it made you smile and if you think you got a great deal, and if it didnt break you, then by all means, you did great. Dont let anybody, myself included alter your view of your purchase.

Those of us on here that have a few years under our belts, that have been around the aviation industry and that have an eye for the old stuff, are always going to post statements to those that think they paid the right price for what ever. Its bottomless and endless. " Caveat Emptor " Which means " let the buyer beware " and that pretty much sums it up, do your home work, check your stash of cash, consider your prioritys and roll the dice. As with most things, its worth what ever someone will pay for it at any precise moment. Your moment in time when you saw the prop for the first time, had that price, that you finnaly settled on, that is if you got into the fine art of haggling.

Any questions ?, there will be a pop quiz after class lets out.

Sincerely,
J. Dennis Hicklin
Seattle Washington

[MWP_Lamar]

Do you mean you would pay less retail than $150 so it's worth less than $75? I'm not too worried about overpaying, it was the first antique I've ever bought, and will probably keep it for a long time. Maybe I'll research things a little more next time tho...

What I meant is I've seen lots of drone props on eBay (the only place I've seen any sold) go for $50 to $100. This is the actual selling price NOT the sometimes outrageous asking price. However, they do seem to run from unsold at $35 to over $300.

If you like it, keep it and cherish it. The price only matters if you plan to sell it or if you plan to insure it.

I'll take this opportunity to share a fairly recent experience with wooden props. A lady whom I've never met gave me a wooden Sensenich Piper J-3 prop with "not airworthy" stamped on it. I suspect it had failed final inspection because it looks ready to go in all aspects. It has no witness marks so I suspect Sensenich sold it as a display piece. Anyway, this lady had heard from her daughter who is a good friend of ours and from my wife of my passion for wooden props and wanted hers to have a good home. It was a gift to her late husband, a WW-II vet given to him by his squadron mates when he retired from the USAF. This prop is not monetarily valuable but I wouldn't part with it. It has a good home with me.

Lamar

[D.Hicklin]

Bravo Lamar!

As ever, I learn so much from this site. RIGHT ON LAMAR, you truly do get it, its not always about the money, as stated, money is common, every persons money looks the same, but if there is history, or even personal history, the element of the prop being kept as a historical artifact that is just "plain cool " as opposed to the monetary value it can produce when cast adrift on the electronic ocean of E bay, which in my opinion can have a negative effect when abused by greed over common sense powered by emotion, filtered by heritage and legacy, and the latter totally ignored for a hand full of money.

Listen to Lamar, there is wisdom in that particular county in Lousiana that he resides in.

Respectfully,
J. Dennis Hicklin
Seattle Washington