what have I bought ?

[noob912]

My apologies for any errors, have some leniency on a very new member of this forum. I bought 2 wooden propellors 2 days ago. One is 2-bladed and definitely wood with a little metal sheeting on the end, painted black with yellow tips. No decals visual. A lot of numbers stamped on both sides of the centre (see pictures), but very badly readable. Apart from the big hole (again apologies for lack of knowledge of the proper technical term), there are 8 smaller holes, presumably for the bolts? The seller claimed it to be from an (early) spitfire. I very much doubt this (as far as I know spitfires have 4-5 bladed metal propellors) but he might have meant that the propellor is originally English. Seller did not know anymore when or where he acquired it. Length is 225cm.
Any information of help will be greatly appreciated.

[Dbahnson]

It's not from a Spitfire. The drawing number looks LA 613C, which you'll find listed on this page, and that model is listed with the Cheetah engine and Airspeed Oxford aircraft, so I think it's a match. The other stampings indicate "Left Hand Tractor", which is typical of most of the British engines. The "D" below that is the diameter and the "P" is the pitch, referring to the angle of the blade.

Better photos can indicate whether it was mounted and subsequently removed from an aircraft, but many of these were manufactured, and then subsequently replaced with variable pitch metal propellers, so there are quite a few of them still around.

Please take a photo of the entire propeller with the camera eye looking directly down the center bore, so it should look completely round in the image.

[noob912]

Thank you very much, Dbahnson! Very impressed you could make something from the numbers/bad pictures. Will post a complete picture later this week. Is it ok to keep it leaning against te wall or will it bend over time?

[Dbahnson]

I doubt that it would ever bend, but leaning always carries some risk of falling over, which is how the tips frequently get damaged. The wood is very thin and fragile at the tips. I think the safest storage method is to make a plate that holds the hub and attach it to a wall. Besides being a nice display it tends to protect it from accidental damage.