B-17G Hamilton Standard logos?

[von hahn]

Hi.

I was wondering, was there a certain point in World War 2 when they stopped applying the Hamilton Standard logo to propeller blades on B-17Gs? I've seen many photos of B-17Fs and early Gs with the logo on each blade, but it seems that there are lots of Gs without the logo on the prop blaeds too, mostly May 1944 onwards if my analysis is correct.

Was there any regulation on this? Would it be plausible that an individual aircraft may have some propellers with the logo and some without?

Thanks!

 

[nuuumannn]

Can't say for certain if there were regs or anything, might be, but the logos wore out and were redone with each blade overhaul. Still the same today. Some overhaul facilities might not have had the logos to put on, hence their absence. I dunno about during the war, but certainly today, with HS stickers (yup, stickers) they have the name of the overhaul facility written on the logo.

 

[Michael Hope]

Can't say for certain if there were regs or anything, might be, but the logos wore out and were redone with each blade overhaul. Still the same today. Some overhaul facilities might not have had the logos to put on, hence their absence. I dunno about during the war, but certainly today, with HS stickers (yup, stickers) they have the name of the overhaul facility written on the logo.

Hamilton Standard did use stickers but have changed to a rub on decal starting in about 1996 as a trial. The issue with the old stickers was the gold ink would wear off too fast and they did not have a nice appearance. Now with multiple name changes, now under the Collins Aerospace banner.

 

[von hahn]

So basically if you see a B-17 without Hamilton Standard logos then it is safe to assume it is not new in the ETO and has at least been through a prop overhaul or replacement?

 

[nuuumannn]

Hamilton Standard did use stickers but have changed to a rub on decal starting in about 1996 as a trial.

Depends, in a prop shop I worked in a few years back we still used stickers.

 

[von hahn]

They still use stickers at the AMO that does our Beechcraft 1900 and ATR propellers. Hamilton Standard and Hartzell.

 

[cvairwerks]

Could be that the stickers simply peeled in flight. We've had them last less than 10 hours on props before.

 

[Michael Hope]

Depends, in a prop shop I worked in a few years back we still used stickers.

I am talking about the genuine official registered Hamilton Standard logo, I think was part # "SK8159". Yes most other overhaul shops do use stickers because they are cheap to make and procure. If the Hamilton Standard sticker does not have the little "R" under the R in Standard they are probably copies.

 

[nuuumannn]

Yes most other overhaul shops do use stickers because they are cheap to make and procure. If the Hamilton Standard sticker does not have the little "R" under the R in Standard they are probably copies.

I certainly couldn't tell you the part number, but yeah, they were stickers. We put them on Beech 1900 props, can't even remember the number of those. The 14SFs fitted to the Dash 8s I work on have decals. They wear out quite easily, whereas the stickers were more robust.

 

[von hahn]

This is really quite interesting. I'm planning to build the 303rd BG B-17G "Daddy's Delight" and it appears in photos at different stages of its service life to never have had decals on the propellers, so I guess they came off quite early on and were not replaced at overhaul.

I've seen ATRs and Beech 1900s in our hangar that lose their prop logos after two days and then some that come in for a C check with the logos looking almost brand new so it could easily be quality of the stickers, preparation or cleaning of the blade surface...

 

[BobB]

Flying in rain is really rough on the decals. They were coated with clear lacquer for protection but some last a long time and some are gone after one short flight through a rain shower.