4 Blade prop found in a Florida swamp.
- Thread starter dragontb
- Start date
Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules
- Thread starter
- #2
Reminds me of a Lockheed Neptune set of blades we found at local crash site in Scotland or maybe from a Lockheed Electra.
Alan.
- Thread starter
- #4
I have a second visit to the site scheduled for this Tuesday and hope to have some accurate measurements of the blades. That will require excavation as most of the blades are covered by vegetation and muck. The shape of the blade tips will tell us more and I will post more pictures once we get the whole assembly out of the ground and cleaned.
Eric
Eric
Michael Hope
Airman 1st Class
- 250
- Jun 28, 2016
Can you can an image of the hub to see if it is a split hub or a solid hub?
If it is a solid hub, it could be from a C-119 or other aircraft, using a Hamilton Standard 24260, they were in 14 foot or 15 foot diameter.
Looks like hollow steel blades and Hamilton Standard hub/dome. I'd guess it is off a Lockheed P2V/P-2 Neptune or C-119 as mentioned above.
Attachments
SaparotRob
Unter Gemeine Geschwader Murmeltier XIII
From swamp junk to an historic artifact. I love this Forum.
- Thread starter
- #8
We made a second visit to the prop site and with a neighbor's help and a small Kabota excavator were able to dig around it more. It is still stuck in the ground held by a Cyprus stump that grew around the bottom of it. Unfortunately the site is still very wet and we were unable to extract the whole assembly from the muck. The small excavator got stuck several times due to the water being pumped up by driving on the surface. We will have to give it several weeks to drain and dry up before we can get back in and extract the whole assembly, get it out on dry land and take some additional pictures. Here are a few more pictures and stay tuned for more later on.
Attachments
Are you sure the engine is still not attached, a small Kabota should be able to wrench a prop free. Here's a prop we lifted in 2004.......
Attachments
- Thread starter
- #10
We were not able to get a chain or strap all the way underneath the hub assembly because of that Cypress stump growing into the bottom of it. The prop blades are already in poor enough shape that we did not want to try lifting the whole assembly by 3 props. Once it is dried out more in a couple weeks we can get a chain saw underneath and cut that stump away. I do not believe there is an engine attached because my Minelab 700 did not detect any metal in the spaces between the props. It only showed a metal return on the actual blades. What may be still attached to the hub assembly is the shaft.
Thanks for the picture and we should have more coming in a couple weeks.
- Thread starter
- #11
We were finally able to get back out in the swamp with our friends Kubota excavator due to the land owner's work in improving the pathway and some hand work with a come along. Attached are pictures of the entire prop assembly out of the muck. There was no engine attached. As I understand the wreck I believe the prop separated from the engine when the aircraft crashed though a heavily forested area. The main fuselage was found many years ago about 200 yards away but the new landowner cleared away what wreckage was left and hauled it to the dump, except for a few pieces I marked as possible Cowling or Control Surface. See pictures below.
After looking at the gears and solid prop shaft in these new pictures we agree this was most probably from a C-119. There may be another engine out in the woods (approximately 20 acres) but we have no other paths cleared presently. We may need the assistance of someone with a drone and magnetometer to locate that engine. Also does anyone have any records of a C-119 crashing in Lake County, FL back in the late 50's or early 60's? See the new pictures.
After looking at the gears and solid prop shaft in these new pictures we agree this was most probably from a C-119. There may be another engine out in the woods (approximately 20 acres) but we have no other paths cleared presently. We may need the assistance of someone with a drone and magnetometer to locate that engine. Also does anyone have any records of a C-119 crashing in Lake County, FL back in the late 50's or early 60's? See the new pictures.
Attachments
hw97karbine
Airman 1st Class
- 219
- Mar 23, 2025
- Thread starter
- #13
That crash does fit some of the criteria except the area in FL. Our site is East of Eustis, FL which is in Lake County. The crash you found was at Milton-Whiting Field, Naval Air Station in the far Western panhandle of FL almost to Mobile, AL. That is nearly 400 miles distant and the report said it crashed after take off in a wooded area after refueling at Milton-Whiting Field. Also it was in transit from Corpus Christi, TX to Norfolk, VA and the flight path would not have come close to Eustis, FL. Thanks for the info though.
hw97karbine
Airman 1st Class
- 219
- Mar 23, 2025
Posted the wrong link, meant to paste this one https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/332339
Still.some distance from Lake County but this and the previous link are the only C-119 crashes listed for Florida
Edit: this page states it came down within 10km of Jacksonville NAS so not your plane: Crash of a Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar in Jacksonville | Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives
Still.some distance from Lake County but this and the previous link are the only C-119 crashes listed for Florida
Edit: this page states it came down within 10km of Jacksonville NAS so not your plane: Crash of a Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar in Jacksonville | Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #15
- Thread starter
- #16
The property owner cleaned up the prop assembly and recovered some markings that include letters and numbers. Perhaps someone has the knowledge to identify what aircraft this prop assembly came from. See pictures including assembly number.
