WWII air plane propeller info? 1942

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mpjustin

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I am not sure if this is the right place for this but I thought with some of your guys knowledge about WW2 history some of you might know some info and history about this wooden propeller. I got it from a guy that I bought a 1894 winchester from and he told me it was from an old war plane and he got it from his uncle. Anyways here are what some of the markings are.
there are some gold wings with a circle in the middel that say S&S Aircraft limited Winnipeg. one side of the wing has SER 1725 and the other side says DRC 170B. on the center of the prop it says MRILL FEB 4.4. and this on the bottom:
DIA 90
PIT 80
JACOBS L6
AVRO ANSON
JAN 1942
any ways here are some pics also If any one knows how collectable or valuable these things are plese let me know.
propeller002.jpg

propeller001.jpg

propeller004.jpg

propeller007.jpg

propeller006.jpg

propeller008.jpg
 
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I have the identical one sitting outside my office. Same markings, etc. Must have been a few around. I got mine from my grandfather who trained pilots during the war.

Mine is dated AUG 1943 ANSON 1
 
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Well, it's a neat old prop. Probably for a trainer aircraft of some sort (there were numerous types that used wooden 2 bladed props in thos days). Value ? No idea but you see those as wall hangers from time to time .... A buddy of mine who was an air cadet in the 40's has a similar hanging on his wall ... Only his is pretty banged up, bicycle (as opposed to the now more common tricicle) aircraft were notoriously tricky to get the tail wheel off the ground without getting the nose down too much on takeoff, and smash the prop on the runway. My buddy tells me he only made that mistake once ....
 
Avro Anson....a very common sight on the prairies during WWII. This is what your prop belongs to:

anson_2.jpg


Some additional info can be found here: http://www.airforce.forces.gc.ca/site/equip/historical/ansonlst_e.asp

I can't give an exact value but I suspect there are several RCAF and aviation enthusiasts that would pay a couple to a few hundred bucks for it. It's a niche market...not everyone wants an old prop over the mantle or doorway. A great piece of history though.
 
I googled "Avro Anson" and came up with this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Anson

I also googled "jacobs L6" and it appears to be the engine this prop was designed for, apparently the MK II Avro Anson was equipped with this engine.

The other marking might be:

"DIA 90"= Prop diameter.
"PIT 80"= prop blade pitch.

Edit: whoops Jman got to it first while I was searching.
 
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Should also add it was probably manufactured in Jan 1942 and overhauled in Feb 1944. I don't have any details on S&S but suspect they were either the manufacturer or did the overhaul. SER 1725 is almost certainly the serial number, used to track and manage the prop's history. Not sure about DRC 170B but I'll be giving that a good think. DIA 90 is likely a diameter of 90 inches. PIT 80, I suspect, refers to 80 degree of blade pitch. The Jacobs L6 refers to the engine that powered the Anson.
 
I just found one on Joe Salters web sight and it is a little different but it has the same S&S wings on it. He's asking about $2500 for it though. I wonder what is special about it? I think it is pretty neat but to collect these things I would need to buy a house or a barn to display them. ;)
 
Salter's prices are 'inflated' to say the least, though he does tend to have nice examples of the stuff he sells. Your best bet might be to keep an eye on ebay for a similar piece. $2500, if I may be honest, seems right out to lunch. But if you can find the right buyer, anything is possible I guess.

RLL (and the other letters) may belong to Robert Laidlaw Lumber, an outfit that did the overhaul on props during the war.
 
The last wooden prop I saw sold was with a clock in the hub for about $700.00. That one was in slightly better shape with no black paint. If you were to clean it up and carefully mount a clock on it it could use the cash to finance some pretty nice toys. They are fairly popular in aviation circles and one in that good of shape is not that common. If you are close to Hamilton go to the Warplane heritage museum and the guys there will probably have more info on the aircraft and the prop than you can handle.
 
j-man said:
PIT 80, I suspect, refers to 80 degree of blade pitch. The Jacobs L6 refers to the engine that powered the Anson.
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Pitch is measured in inches. The prop would pull itself through 80" of air in one revolution if there were no slippage involved. The angle of attack of the prop blade changes from hub to tip to produce the same "pitch" along the length of the blade. Necessary because a given section of blade travels faster the farther it is from the hub.

Class dismissed:redface:

Very cool artifact, I would love one if I had the space to hang it
 
That is one cool prop. Now you have to find the rest of the Anson to go with it :p I've got an old mystery propellor too, I'll have to get some pics up here to see if anyone can figure out what it's from.
 
TAZWILLFIX said:
The last wooden prop I saw sold was with a clock in the hub for about $700.00. That one was in slightly better shape with no black paint. If you were to clean it up and carefully mount a clock on it it could use the cash to finance some pretty nice toys. They are fairly popular in aviation circles and one in that good of shape is not that common. If you are close to Hamilton go to the Warplane heritage museum and the guys there will probably have more info on the aircraft and the prop than you can handle.
Click to expand...


I was told the black paint was painted on to stop the reflection of the sun to the flier???? would this be original or something the pilot would do??
 
wapitiwhacker said:
Pitch is measured in inches. The prop would pull itself through 80" of air in one revolution if there were no slippage involved. The angle of attack of the prop blade changes from hub to tip to produce the same "pitch" along the length of the blade. Necessary because a given section of blade travels faster the farther it is from the hub.

Class dismissed:redface:

Very cool artifact, I would love one if I had the space to hang it
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Good lesson and refresher. I'm familiar with the AOA change along the length of the blade but hadn't thought about it's measurement i.e. degrees vs inches. Shows how much attention I paid to such things years ago in the flying school, or how much I use that info today (as in, not at all!). :redface: :D
 
wapitiwhacker said:
lol, I had to dig way back into the grey matter too. Long time since "From the Ground UP";)
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From the Ground Up. Ahh, memories. As I swing around to my bookshelf, I see my copy nestled snugly between my sets of Culhanes, the Stevens INRAT workbook and the rest of the Aerocourse pubs. Maybe I should spend more time reading it than I do just looking at it!:D
 
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