Please ID this wooden propeller!

[flyingspringbok]

I have recently acquired this old propeller but have little luck in identifying it - it measures 6' from tip to tip and has six 3/8" holes in the hub, which is 3 1/4" thick.
I had hoped it might be British but have a feeling it is American in origin. It has no manufacturer decals and the only marks are the number "T8588" stamped on the hub.

I have seen pictures of pre-WW2 Aeronca, Cessna and Taylorcraft aircraft with very similar looking propellers (shape and length of brass strips, protective covering, etc) which led me to think it might come from a pre-war type fitted with a Lycoming or Continental engine.

I am a new member to this forum - hope to learn much from it. Thank you!

[MWP_Lamar]

By its small diameter you are correct it's for one of the smaller aircraft. Other than that, in the absence of any other markings, its not possible to date it or ID it at all. Especially by the appearance of it as they pretty much all look alike.

Lamar

[flyingspringbok]

Thank you for your response. Looking at various propellers it looks very much like a Sensenich example - bar the absense of decals or marks, though as you say they all look pretty much alike. Did Sensenich props always have decals and markings on them? I looked up the serial number "T8588" on the Sensenich wooden propeller serial number list on this site and the "T" block seems to have been manufactured circa 1954 - would this be a prop likely to have come from this block? Also - did manufacturing methods change much, if at all between the 1930s and 1950s - I would at least like to know if it was pre-war or post-war.

Thanks again!

[MGChuck]

Hi, it looks like you've done your research - I just did the same thing.
On modernwoodenpropellers.com there are links to many modern prop manufacturers. Looking through those serial numbers I did not see one that matches yours exactly. But, an educated guess is that since your propeller looks very much like a Sensenich, and since there is a similar style of serial number as Sensenich, it probably is one. The Sensenich manufacture date document that is linked as a PDF on this page http://modernwoodenpropellers.com/sensenich.htm
does not have your serial number on it, but you can see the general flow of how they numbered (and lettered) their propellers through the years. As you mention, the only manufacture date entry they have for a serial number starting with a T is 1954.
Based on that and absent other information, I would say this was built in the mid 1950s. This is by no means a definite identification nor date - just what seems most likely to me.

[Dave]

Thank you for your response. Looking at various propellers it looks very much like a Sensenich example - bar the absense of decals or marks, though as you say they all look pretty much alike. Did Sensenich props always have decals and markings on them? I looked up the serial number "T8588" on the Sensenich wooden propeller serial number list on this site and the "T" block seems to have been manufactured circa 1954 - would this be a prop likely to have come from this block? Also - did manufacturing methods change much, if at all between the 1930s and 1950s - I would at least like to know if it was pre-war or post-war.

Thanks again!

Not only do they often look alike, sometimes different manufacturers used the exact same blueprint (drawing) and used different model numbers to identify them.

Often, when stamped data is not present it's because the prop was rejected as non airworthy near the end of the production sequence. In your case there are "witness marks" on the hub, indicating that it was likely mounted on a metal hub at some point. It may have been used on a homebuilt or used illegally on a certificated aircraft, but there's really no way of telling.

I tell people that wooden propellers are not unlike tires - hundreds of models used on hundreds of different vehicles, often with no way of telling much more than that.

[MWP_Lamar]

Did Sensenich props always have decals and markings on them?

So far as I know or have ever heard, yes. They are quite proud of their products.

Lamar