Newbie needing help on identification please.

[robert101]

Hello,
I have just aquired an old propeller hub that has had the blades removed so strictly speaking is no longer a propeller. I would however still be interested in finding out what it came off if possible.
I was told that it originally came off a Curtiss flying boat from around the time of WW1 and had been bought some time ago from someone who worked at the RAF research and testing facility at Boscombe Down.
I have looked at your sites section on identification and these seem to be the relevant points.
It has 8 bolt holes and appears to be made out of "darker" wood.
It is a 4 blade Prop
It is stamped "Right" so presumably was multi engined
It is stamped as best I can make out AB665 RH275NP (or possibly HP) Its a bit faded so this might not be entirely correct
Below this it is stamped D3040-P30?? again quite faded so possibly not quite right.
I measured the hub dimensions as best I could and within some small discrepancies, (the bolt hole circle seems a bit out, a 1/4 inch+ or so) the only engine it seemed to match was the Liberty 12 engine.
I looked up what aircraft used the Liberty 12 engines see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_engine and Curtiss used them on an aircraft called the Curtiss NC. SEE http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss_NC Apparently these were built in, or just after 1919 and there were only 10 of them made. This would tie in with the approx date and type this was suppossed to have come from. There is also a picture of this type of aircraft and it was multi engined and had large 4 Blade propellers.
Interestingly this hub has what appears to be fire damage where 1 or 2 of the blades would have been. I thought this indicated it might have been from a crashed aircraft and that this would explain why the blades had been removed. However, I looked up about the Curtiss NC and apparently one of the 10 aircraft (NC-4) was damaged in a fire in its hangar (see http://acepilots.com/airplanes/count...an/curtiss-nc/ ) and had to have its wings replaced. I wondered if this could be the hub from one of the propellors from this aircraft when it was damaged by fire?
Probably all a bit too much to hope for that it could possibly be linked to a specific aircraft and I don't know if this is even the correct type of prop but it would be nice to get any information on what this might have been used on.
I'll try and post some pictures below:

http://www.birmingham101.com/web-1.jpg
http://www.birmingham101.com/web-2.jpg
http://www.birmingham101.com/web-3.jpg
http://www.birmingham101.com/web-5.jpg
http://www.birmingham101.com/web-6.jpg
I might be on completely the wrong track, so I would be very grateful with any help you can give on identifying this Propellor
Thanks
Robert

[robert101]

I think i might have found it!

I've been looking a bit more and I think the stamped letters AB665 refers to a prop that fitted the Rolls Royce Eagle VIII engine which was 275 horse power, so that the markings AB665 RH 275 HP would be for the right hand engine of 275 horse power.
These engines powered the Curtiss Model H which was produced in WW1 some of which served in the Royal Naval Air Service (which would explain how it came to be in England) and was developed from the Curtiss America.
Does this sound possible?

[Dave]

I've been looking a bit more and I think the stamped letters AB665 refers to a prop that fitted the Rolls Royce Eagle VIII engine which was 275 horse power, so that the markings AB665 RH 275 HP would be for the right hand engine of 275 horse power.
These engines powered the Curtiss Model H which was produced in WW1 some of which served in the Royal Naval Air Service (which would explain how it came to be in England) and was developed from the Curtiss America.
Does this sound possible?

Yes, that looks like a British drawing number rather than a U.S. built propeller, and the information does seem to fit. I'll look at the numbers in some references I have when I get home. There may be other possibilities as well.

[Dave]

Here's the listings. It looks like there were several variations of that drawing number, including left hand and right hand rotations. The Curtiss flying boat is one of the applications listed. It's a British publication, Windsock Datafiles "WW1 British Aeroplane Propellers."

[robert101]

Thats great Dave. Thanks for your time and help. It does all seem to fit in with the other information. Shame its not a complete propeller