Prop blade identification help, possibly German.

[wainsworld]

Hi All,

I have been trying to identify which (if possible) aircraft this blade could be from. It was found in a barn in Germany, quite a stubby blade and heavy wood. Unfortunately not all the numbers are there as some of the red paint had come off.
Any direction really appreciated as we are moving to another country and it's history will decide if we take it with us.
Thank you

[Mtskull]

Certainly German; the letters “W Nr” are an abbreviation of “Werke Nummer”, which I think would refer to serial number rather than design number, although I stand to be corrected on this.

Your blade would have been part of a variable pitch propeller and would have had a metal root fixing, like the one in this photo (which I show for illustration purposes only; the blade is very different from yours).

[Mtskull]

Now, this is pure speculation and again, I stand to be corrected but, I have never seen any photos showing German aircraft with paddle propeller blades like this.
This leads me to suspect that it may be a German-manufactured spare part for an American aircraft used by the West German Air Force during the reconstruction period from 1956 onwards.

Again, pure speculation but a possible candidate night be the Douglas Invader, which the West German Air Force employed as target tugs.
I don’t know the dimensions of an Invader propeller but if you can find that information, comparison with yours could be a useful line of enquiry.

[wainsworld]

Thanks Mtskull, any help appreciated. What I have noticed though is that my blade in not ‘turned’ and is flat as I thought most if not all had this turned/twisted shape for airflow but I am far from an expert.

[Dbahnson]

Keep in mind that there were lots of wooden propeller blades that weren't used on aircraft at all. The constant pitch along the blade might be consistent with a test club propeller, an industrial fan, windmill, or some other purpose.

Usually when a variable pitch blade turns up it still has the metal hub component intact, and finding one in a barn gives some suggestion that it my have been used in some agricultural application.

[wainsworld]

Thank you Dbahnson, they are good points that i had not thought of, it may turn out more difficult to identify than i thought.