Had a question posed by an accident report researcher.
"I'm wondering if a prop can shear off the front of the engine if it was not under power. Could the blades have turned when it broke off?"
It seems there are a number of accidents with props that come off but none were in the feathered position. Is it possible the prop could have somehow been forced into the feathered position after it came off?
For those interested in the crash reports including poster A4K, a list of the most promising have been attached in a PDF document. While the reports are not readily available, the document includes basic information including type of aircraft, serial number, pilot and so on. Also here is the website the list was assembled from:
Aircraft Archeology (location- Amchitka)
Got a response back from the prop manufacturer, Hamilton-Standard (now Hamilton Sundstrand). Here it is in full:
We have reviewed our historical archives in an attempt to identify the aircraft type that used the propeller in your possession. The diameter of 139 inches is correct ,however, the blade designation should be 6477A-0. There were many aircraft that used the 23E50 propeller with 6477A-0 blades. We first tried to match the serial number you provided. We were not able to find it. Then we looked for 23E50/6477A-0 propellers with a min angle setting of 16 degrees and max angle setting of 88 degrees to limit the possibilities. The aircraft listed below meet that criteria:
Douglas C-47, C-53, DC-3, R4D
Consolidated B-24
Waco C-62
Budd RB, C-93
Curtiss Wright C-76
Sorry we could not identify the specific aircraft.
One important finding is that the correct part number for our prop is
23E50/6477A-0 (not -6). Am disappointed they couldn't relate the S/N to date of manufacture or destination.
Any comments or suggestions on the search to identify our mystery prop are most welcome.
Here is the current status of aircraft researched as possible candidates for our mystery prop:
Aircraft Accident Reports Amchitka
Candidates for Mystery Propeller
DATE TYPE S/N ACTION DMG PILOT Mystery Prop Status
470421 C-47D 44-77252 TACMFW 3 Kintze, Carl delete-no prop dmg
430414 C-47 42-38640 LAC 3 Keiser, W.L. delete-no prop dmg
430519 B-24D 42-40093 LAC 5 Zartman, W.V. Research in progress
440107 C-47 42-24276 LAC 5 Fleischman, R,S. delete-no feathered prop
430724 C-47 41-38640 TOA 3 Fell, Dale J delete-no feathered prop
450312 C-47A 42-24275 TOA 4 Egan, D. E. delete-no feathered prop
461210 C-47B 45-5988 TOA 3 Taylor, H.B. delete-no feathered prop
450327 C-47A 42-23963 TAC 3 Whitby, N.W. delete-no feathered prop
470729 C-47D 45-788 TAC 2 Livermore, R.E. awaiting accident report
NOTES:
1. Date is year/month/day
2. DMG is damage to aircraft on scale 1-5 with 5 being written off.
3. Action Code: TACMFW- Taxing Accident and Mechanical Failure due to Weather
LAC- Landing Accident
TOA-Take Off Accident
TAC-Taxing Accident
4. The mystery prop was in the feathered position when it detached from aircraft. To be a candidate an accident report must indicate prop feathering, damage, and loss.
list updated 11/13/2012
Pete