Rolls Royce 1WW Prop identification hep please.

[TomHovell]

Hi,

I have a propeller that, as the story goes, was turned into a clock by my great great grandfather who was a carpenter during the first world war. His main task was re-building and fixing downed planes.

The propeller has a few markings

G431 904
Royce
CON2
285

It would be lovely to know what kind of plane it came off. If anyone is able to help I would be extremely grateful.

Kind Regards

Tom

[Dbahnson]

That's not much to go on. For one thing the "G431" stamp would typically be followed by a stamp beginning with "N", and I've not seen a prop stamped with simply "Royce". It's as if something is missing. Maybe a good photo of what you have would help.

[TomHovell]

Yep, some additional information might be helpful

I've attached 6 photos. As you will see the prop has been "personalised" quite a bit by my great grand farther (probably to get it back on the boat from France) so the missing stamps that you have mentioned might have been there one time...

I know it's a bit of a long shot but any thoughts on the type of plane(s) it might have been attached to would be great to add to the family story.

Thanks again for your help.

[Mtskull]

That’s an interesting piece.
Clearly, a lot of the stamped letters/numbers have been lost to sanding after two blades were removed.
What remains is enough to make the following deductions:
“Royce” can only be the surviving part of lettering that once read: “Rolls-Royce”.
“CON 2” gives a further clue: I think it refers to the engine type and could possibly be an abbreviation for “Condor 2”; however your hub has 8 bolt holes and every photograph I have seen of a RR Condor hub has 12.
More likely that it once read “Falcon 2” and that the letters F, A & L have been obliterated along with the word “Rolls”.

To sum up, In my opinion the lettering on your propeller hub most likely once read:
ROLLS-ROYCE
FALCON 2
The design of the R-R Falcon dates from 1915 and the Falcon 2 from 1917 so this is consistent with your back story.
There is a page on Wikipedia about the Rolls-Royce Falcon, which has a list of the aircraft it was fitted to.
Some further research into which aircraft were specifically fitted with the Condor 2 variant might narrow down the possibilities further; a brief look suggests Bristol Fighter and Blackburn Kangaroo as the most likely possibilities.

I hope this is helpful

Andy

[TomHovell]

Thanks Andy for the quick response and great insight.

Interesting to know more about the clock. Side note I found some more information about my great grandfather. As well as being in France he was based at the SouthernAeroplane Repair Depot in Farnborough (which is probably more likely where he made the clock). He is referred to as an Aero Rigger.

Thanks again.

[Mtskull]

A further note: going by the numbers of aircraft produced and the relatively short lifespan of the Falcon 2 before being superseded by the Falcon 3, the balance of probabilities would suggest the Bristol F.2B as by far the most likely application for your propeller, IMHO.