Napier Lion Flying Boat(?) Propeller Clock

[miscstuff]

Hello everyone. Picked up this "propeller clock" at auction today and it was listed as "Mantle Clock - Napier Lion Flying Boat Engine Clock, Engine No. on underside".
At a weight of 8.5Kg I may need to re-engineer my mantle piece.
Tried to track down the numbers but no luck so I'm hoping I missed them.
On top it is marked "Napier Lion" and underneath

DEH 5086A
D3450
P2620
G D(?) 954 II

Sorry about the photo quality. That's all I can do til tomorrow.
Can anyone pin down the date and aircraft this was used on.
Cheers
Stephen

[Dbahnson]

It is extremely rare to be able to associate a propeller with a specific aircraft. In this case even identifying a make and model may be difficult. I can't find any listing of that drawing number, which would at least narrow the possibilities down.

It's possible that the prop was never used, as there does not appear to be any witness marks on the hub (although they may have been there and sanded off), and while it now seems crazy to remove blades from a perfectly intact propeller it was not that uncommon when these became obsolete. They were sold off as surplus and often cut up to use the pieces, especially one of this length (over 11 feet), as its length made transport difficult.

Since the drawing number does not appear on an extensive list of WW1 era propellers, I'm guessing that this one was made in the 20s or 30s.

[miscstuff]

Thanks for that.
I suspected it might be the case. The closest Napier Lion number I could find was 5084 and that was a four blade WW1 job. I'll keep looking.
Cheers
Stephen

[Dbahnson]

It's also possible that "DEH" stands for DeHavilland (see this link), so I suppose if you can find a DeHavilland plane using a Napier Lion engine it might be a match, especially if you can find a match with the numbers stamped alongside it.

[miscstuff]

Found a "DEH" associated with Napier Lion.
https://nara.getarchive.net/media/ai...sengers-b80d35
Dates from 1921.

[miscstuff]

Dave
Here's couple of better images that may help someone else in the future.
I'm going to have to eboo this shortly as it forms part of my pension income so thank you for the help and I've learnt a great deal from the website.
One last thought. The stamping has a gap between the "DE" and the "H5086A" so it may be the commercial version of the DeHavilland H5 aircraft. I should be so lucky.
Cheers
Stephen

[Dbahnson]

Originally Posted by miscstuff

Found a "DEH" associated with Napier Lion.
https://nara.getarchive.net/media/ai...sengers-b80d35
Dates from 1921.

That could be a match. I also found this propeller listing associating it with a DH-9 and an RAF drawing number, which could at least also explain the 'DEH' part of the stamp.

[Mtskull]

Several De Havilland Aircraft were fitted with the Napier Lion, although not in any great numbers. For example, it was tried on the D.H. 9, the one-off D.H. 14A, D.H. 16 and D.H. 18, which I believe is the aircraft pictured.

[miscstuff]

Originally Posted by Mtskull

Several De Havilland Aircraft were fitted with the Napier Lion, although not in any great numbers. For example, it was tried on the D.H. 9, the one-off D.H. 14A, D.H. 16 and D.H. 18, which I believe is the aircraft pictured.

Thanks for that. I think David is right about not being able to pin down the plane it might have been used for and also right about the date 1920-1930.
Cheers
Stephen

[powerandpassion]

This hub was used on a Fairey IIID floatplane operated by the RAAF. The propellor maker was deHavilland, Sydney, NSW and the drawing reference 5086A is a RAAF engineering drawing number. This is now sitting on my mantle!