Dornier propeller

[chinaprop]

Not a Do-x

Having found some pictures that match my exact propeller it seems that it is from a Spanish build Dornier WAL Ultra which was piloted by Major Ramon Franco, brother of general Franco. He crashed on a Transatlantic flight near Flores and was rescued by British aircraft carrier Eagle who took the crew and damaged plane to Horta, Faial where it was repaired. It got new props and this one stayed on the island. This also explains why it does not have engine identification numbers in the hub. It was a one off, not one produced for regular engines.

[Bob Gardner]

Congratulations on your research. If you would allow me to say so, you have done very well to discover so much so quickly. And your prop with its Azores history is a marvellous treasure!

With kind regards,

Bob

[Bob Gardner]

For fellow forumites, I attach an article below that I have just copied from Google, which I think describes this aircraft.

Plus Ultra was a Dornier Do J flying boat which completed the first transatlantic flight between Spain and South America in January 1926 with a crew of Spanish aviators, that included Ramón Franco and Julio Ruiz de Alda Miqueleiz, Juan Manuel Duran and Pablo Rada.

The Plus Ultra departed from Palos de la Frontera, in Huelva, Spain on January 22 and arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina on January 26. It stopped over at Gran Canaria, Cape Verde, Fernando de Noronha, Pernambuco (Recife), Rio de Janeiro and Montevideo. The 10,270 km (6,381 mi) journey was completed in 59 hours and 39 minutes. The plane was subsequently donated to the Argentine Navy and was used to deliver airmail. It is currently on display in a museum in the city of Luján, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.

The flight of the Plus Ultra followed approximately the route taken, in 1922, by the Portuguese aviators Sacadura Cabral and Gago Coutinho, in the first Trans-Atlantic flight over the South Atlantic (from Lisbon, Portugal to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil).

[chinaprop]

Second flight Ramon Franco

He did two flights...this is what we know of the 1929 one:

n 1929 he attempted another trans-Atlantic flight, this time crashing the airplane to the sea. The crew was rescued days later by an aircraft carrier of the British Royal Navy.

He ran out of fuel near Flores, was missing for almost a week and was picked up June 29, 1929. His damaged plane was taken aboard the HMS Eagle and here there are two stories...one says he was fixed in Horta and another one is that it was brought to Gibraltar. Still researching. What is interesting is that there were no numbers in the hub as to for which engine it was. As the WAL of Franco was specially prepped for the journey it is likely there was no need for a number as it was build specifically for the Hispano Souza engines he used.