Estate

With the fairly recent death of my father I got an exposure to just how complex and burdensome the distribution of an estate can be for the family left behind. This propeller collection (and perhaps the web site itself) will fall into that category at my death. Having the propellers to appreciate and enjoy has been very satisfying to me, and while my two children and my girlfriend will have the option of keeping the entire propeller collection, it is much more likely that each will pick one or two propellers to keep and then figure out how to sell off the rest, which is fine with me. One of the best gifts I can give to them is to have that done as effortlessly and as economically as possible. My goal is to have them simply open a CD I've prepared for that purpose and follow the instructions. One of the options will be to contact people who have expressed a serious interest in owning or managing a large collection and then offer the entire collection for sale.

Authentic, original WW1 era propellers are rare, and with the century anniversary of flight, they are more sought after than ever. According to a curator at the National Air and Space Museum, they are the most collectible piece of aviation memoribilia. I have always considered them an investment as well as a hobby, and as collectibles they are unique for several reasons. First, most of them are aesthetically pleasing to look at, and they clearly make an immediate statement about the owner. Second, not only are they historically significant, but they occupy a narrow time frame of usage, beginning with the dawn of flight and extending less than 20 years, when most of them were replaced with metal propellers, or wooden propellers that to this day still continue to be manufactured. Thirdly, the decals on many of them are intriquing and artistic, and many reflect the history of the manufacturers, long since out of business. I'm proud to say the my web site, www. woodenpropeller.com, has helped stimulate an interest in collecting these props, and I plan to continue working on the site and on the hobby for as long as I am able.

I don't know what the collection is worth now and of course I have no idea how long I'll be around (I'm 57) and, more importantly, what it will be worth in the future. There are some 60 or 70 propellers in the collection now (many still need to be posted on the web site, including a collection of small generator props and some propeller related "trench art"), some considerably more valuable than others. I would estimate that the future value of the entire collection is likely to be in the $100,000 range (just figuring an average value of around $3000/propeller, with some of the very rare ones likely worth in the $8,000 to $9,000 range, at least in the near future). If you have a serious interest in being put on a list of prospective buyers, then please send me an e-mail with your contact information and your interest in the collection, with any specific sub-interests as well. (Please do not send me your name through this link if you are not likely to be capable of financing an amount in that range.) As part of my estate plan, I will be leaving very specific instructions to my heirs, which will include the list of interested people. The size and value of the collection, of course, will not be known until that time comes to pass it on. I am constantly buying as well as selling some propellers, although that activity has slowed as they get harder to find.

If you've gotten this far and you have a genuine interest in a possible future purchase, please e-mail me your contact information. It will not be used for anything else, unless you also indicate that you'd like to be added to a group contact list I use to notify interested people when I know of specific propeller offerings that come up from time to time.