What is it.

[bobzilla]

I am in possession of a wooden propeller that is 126 inches long.

The propeller was found in the rafters of my Grandfathers garage in Hempstead, New York.

I joined this forum to find out all I can about this propeller.

Per " woodenpropeller.com" and the following dimensions:

Bore - 3 5/32
Bolt size - 1/2
Number of bolts - 8

This propeller may be off a BMW engine. But...........................

The other dimensions seem to lead in another direction:

Hub Diameter - 10 3/8
Hub thickness - 6 11/16
Bolt hole circle - 8

These numbers lead me to think it was used on a Liberty engine? (Liberty 8 or 12?)

In addition to these dimensions, the following markings are on the propeller in various places around the hub:

McCOOK FIELD
SC60091
0813
X4987

I have done a little reading on McCook Field and the Army Signal Corps.

There are also slight burn marks equal distant from the hub center. This led me to believe the propeller may have come off the rear engine of a NC-4. I did not take into consideration the direction of the blades' rotation nor the presence of an additional hole in the hub possibly used for alignment? (This additional hole does not go completely through the hub.).

Thanks in advance for you interest and helping me identify this propeller.

[bobzilla]

More pictures of the propeller.

[Dave]

(Sorry, I missed this post last week.)

It looks like a Liberty engine driven prop. When you get to that size it starts to fall into the airship category. There were certainly many different types of planes that may have used a Liberty engine during the period around and after WW1. It might not be possible to narrow it down much further.

[bobzilla]

Airship as in zepplin? Blimp?

[Dave]

Airship as in zepplin? Blimp?

Well, the Zeppelins were German built, and this is clearly a U.S. built propeller, but there were a number of rigid airships used by both the Navy and the Army following WW1. I don't know how many, if any, used the Liberty engines, though.

Here is an example of a propeller that I recently sold that was used on a TC Airship using a Wright engine. If you click on the airship photo on that page it will link to another page with information about some dirigibles.