Watts Propeller

[Mike Williams]

Hello.
I live in Sweden and have found an old propeller that I am curious about.
It is ten feet long and has two metal tags on it. One tag has a date of
Nov 1937 and a serial number. The other tag has WATTS MERCURY 1V
and some other numbers. I know that the Swedish air force bought both
Gloster Gladiators and Bristol Bulldogs from England during the thiries,
but could it have come from some other aircraft?

[Mike Williams]

Watts Propeller

Hello.
I live in Sweden and I have an wooden propeller that I am trying to identify.
Any help would be appreciated. Somebody sprayed it silver and made a lamp out of it at some time, but I removed the lamp and under the paint I found two metal tags which I have included pictures of. I think the propeller is British and I know that the Swedish air force bought some Brit planes during the 30's. One of the tags has a date of Nov1937 and a serial number a little difficult to make out.
The other says Watts Mercury along with some numbers.
Thanks,
Mike.

[Mike Williams]

Watts Propeller

Hello.
A follow up to my question about the Watts propeller, I have now been
informed by a Swedish museum that it did indeed come from a Gloster
Gladiator. One of the early ones to arrive here from U.K. with a 10ft
propeller in 1937. Now a second question if I may: Does my propeller
have any value?
Thanks,
Mike.

[Bob Gardner]

Mike,

I have a lengthy list of Watts drawing numbers and their applications but only one drg no beginning with 4. The Gladiator props in my list are in the series Z3000 where the engine was a Mercury VIII and IX. The only other Mercury engine on my list is a VI for the Gloster Gauntlet. I have no Mercury IV engines listed.

So, I can't help much. A possible interpretation of the almost complete absence of drg nos in the 4000 group and you finding one in Sweden is that my list is of British useage of Watts props and that the 4000 series were export props.

I have added your details to my database. If you discover which aircraft it came from, please let me know.

[Mike Williams]

Hi Bob.
Thanks very much for the information. I have information from the Flygvapens museum in Linköping who have done some research on the prop details I gave
them. It seems that the prop did indeed come from one of the early ones that were bought by Sweden in 1937. The ten foot length of the prop is right for these aircraft. The Gladiator they have in the museum has a longer prop, but
it is one of the next generation with an upgraded engine. If you wish, I can send you the details I recieved from the museum.
Cheers,
Mike

[Bob Gardner]

Yes please Mike.

An added thought; the Mercury IV dates from 1929, the VIII and IX from 1935.

With kind regards,

Bob

[Dave]

Threads merged.