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Early wooden propeller...need Info

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  • Early wooden propeller...need Info

    Hello, I have a propeller I'm looking for more info on...unfortunately I only have one good pic of the numbers....it's about 8' long with metal covering the tips and if I remember 8 bolt holes...see pic for more info.

    Thank you,

    Abe

    I only have this info for now, but will post more pictures as I can...
    Attached Files

  • #2
    Matthews Brothers made a large number of props for the Navy. The company was managed by Tom Hamilton, who went on to Hamilton Standard fame. The "S.E." refers to "Steam Engineering", which was the Navy Department responsible for procuring propellers in the late teens and early twenties.

    It's stamped "F 5 L", which almost certainly refers to the Felixstowe F5L flying boat designed in England but developed by the Navy in the U.S.

    Please don't let that information stop you from posting additional photographs.

    Oh, by the way it should be 10 1/2 feet long, not 8 feet. It may very well be similar to this propeller for the H16 in design.
    Dave

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    • #3
      You got it correct...

      Thanks Dave! Indeed the propeller looks just like the ones in the picture of the H-5-L. And yes. It's 10'6" long....unfortunatley we need to get the propeller appraised as part of my father in laws estate...i have more pictures but need to shrink them down in size to post. I'll do that soon. Thank you for helping at least identify what airplane it's off of as that also helps with the date of manufacture..could be an almost 100 year old propeller.

      Abe

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      • #4
        More pictures

        We need an appraisal for estate purposes. Any help would be appreciated. - Abe
        Attached Files

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        • #5
          It's very hard to find an accurate appraiser of antique propellers for estate purposes. There aren't enough sales of similar items to establish an appraisal database, so it's hard to say that it was "appraised at xxx dollars" with any kind of authority.

          I can list the pluses and minuses of yours and you can come up with your own estimate. I can tell you what I think it's worth, but I wouldn't count on that to hold up to any challenges.

          Pluses:
          1. Original condition and original decals, even though aged
          2. Manufactured by a company (Matthews Bros.), whose manager, Tom Hamilton, when on to form Hamilton Propellers which later merged with Standard Steel to form Hamilton-Standard, which manufactured thousands of propellers over a long span of time and is the basis for the current manufacturer United technologies, so it's of some historical interest in that respect
          3. High probability of specific aircraft (see above) as opposed to "generic old propeller of unknown usage".

          Minuses:
          1. Likely was never mounted and used, and was sold off as surplus in the 1920s, along with thousands of others. Absence of witness marks on the hub and evidence of cork storage plugs in the bolt holes.
          2. Damaged edges. While a little conspicuous, these aren't that big a deal for a prop which will never be anything but a display propeller.

          Also, see this page.

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