Lang Products

[Driscoll1946]

Hi all,
I need help in identifying my propeller. My Dad brought it home when he was a boy from Mitchell Field on Long Island, probably in the 1920's. It's a little over 9 feet long, and is made of laminated strips of wood about one inch thick. The tips are covered with metal and riveted on. On the the hub is imprinted with "Lang Products Co. No. 391, Pitch 1.524, Dia. 2.895, Drg no. 413 C, 400 HP Liberty Motor." There is a decal on it which may be Canadian.
Any help is appreciated.
John Driscoll

[DonFromTX]

Wow, I envy you! That is one great prop, can we get you to post some photos of it?

[Bob Gardner]

Hello John,

I too would appreciate seeing some photographs. I am writing a book on Lang (who was an English maker) but was seconded to the USN to advise on the mass production of props when the States entered the War in 1917.

He set up the Lang of America Company and initially contracted out the manufacture of props to makers in Canada.

Photos of the complete prop, of the decal, and of the data stamped on the hub would be much appreciated. Perhaps you could send them to me direct, as well as posting them here. aeroclocks at btinternet.com ( written in this form to deceive the spam bots ). In focus and at a resolution of around 2 or 3 mb, please.

The data on your prop indicates a diameter of 2895mm, which is large, and a pitch of 1524mm, which indiactes a slow and heavy aircraft.

With kind regards,

Bob

[Driscoll1946]

Lang Products

I have attached two pictures of the propeller.
JD

[Dave]

That drawing number (413 C) seems to come up frequently, although I don't know specifically what airplane it was used for, if indeed it was a single airplane at all. It's almost certainly from one of the many Liberty powered flying boats developed by the Navy in the late teens. Thousands of propellers quickly became obsolete and were sold off at auction in the 20's. Prices ranged from $2 to $4, depending on metal tipping, etc.

I have one very similar to yours (identical in general appearance) this is stamped for an H16 airplane. It was manufactured by Matthews Brothers, one of many, many companies making props for the Bureau of Steam Engineering (Navy) at that time. I'll try to include a photo of it at some point.

Actually, I just ran out to the garage and took a picture of the stampings. It's a L.P. 413D. "L.P." refers to Lang Propeller, but it does have Matthews decals. Many props were made under license between manufacturers.

I suspect that yours is identical to mine except the pitch is different. It might have been used on the same model of aircraft, as well.