P39 and perhaps not a P38 ? prop identification help, found 50 years ago by a friend in Guadalcanal. Rough condition, not be restored but preserved (1 Viewer)

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KEITH123451

Recruit
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May 22, 2023
Research leds me to believe this is a steel Hamilton Standard steel prop from an earlier P38E. Official specs are
66 5/8 INCHES HEIGHT WIDTH 10 7/8 INCHES OUR ROUGH MEASUREMENTS ARE 65 3/4 INCHES WIDTH 11 INCHES ( though there is no coupling at the base ). Would Hamilton Standard have had these same official specs, size for a comparable aircraft in the pacific war theater at this time? thanks, Keith

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thank you very much for the research. blade is steel and hollow. quote
LIGHTNINGS AT WAR: P-38E / P-38F / P-38G
* The first Lightning to go to war was the "P-38E", which featured:

Improved instruments, electrical systems, and hydraulic systems.

New Curtiss Electric duraluminum propellers, though early P-38E production retained the older Hamilton Standard Hydromatic hollow steel propellers.
 
thank you very much for the research. blade is steel and hollow. quote
LIGHTNINGS AT WAR: P-38E / P-38F / P-38G
* The first Lightning to go to war was the "P-38E", which featured:

Improved instruments, electrical systems, and hydraulic systems.

New Curtiss Electric duraluminum propellers, though early P-38E production retained the older Hamilton Standard Hydromatic hollow steel propellers.
The P-38D used Curtis Electric Propellers, with hollow steel blades. This the information that I found in the list of US Military propellers from 1944.

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Per Note 16 the Hollow steel blades can be replaced with Dural aluminum blades but a 75 pound weight needs to added when the aluminum blade is used.

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You cannot use a Hamilton Standard blade with a Curtis Electric propeller hub.

I have searched your information and do not believe that it is correct. The Hamilton Standard Hydromatic propeller uses engine oil pressure, through a governor to boost the pressure, to change the blade pitch, the Curtis Electric propeller uses electrical power for blade pitch change, and it does not use engine oil pressure.
 
Thank you very very much for the info. With only 210 P38E produced the odds would be remote but worth a chance. Though 12 were sent there in 1942. The prop blade is metal and rough. My friend, a retired marine wants to display it at his house once we identify exactly what it came off. A hamilton standard was my assumption though not confirmed.. Stated was rusted very badly when found. I was thinking Corsairs were a different height and width reference blade but all a learning curve and fun.
 
Here is a page from a Curtiss Electric Propeller from 1941, which has an image of what the hollow steel blade looks like without its retainers to the hub.

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Hello, we are looking for the length and width dimensions of a steel prop blade off a P39. thanks
 
The P-39C had either a Curtiss Electric or a General Motors Aeroproducts hydraulic propeller.

If Curtiss-Electric it was a 3-bladed constant speed propeller, blade design No. 614CC1.5-21, blade angle range 21° to 51° at 42" radius.

The P-39N had a three-bladed constant speed aeroproducts-propeller, blade design No. A-20-156-17, blade angle range 28° to 63°, at 42 inch radius. It was 10 ft 4.5 in in diameter with a 10-inch chord. It was about 7 inches deep from front to back.

I'd have to go measure it to get the width and blade length of the Curtiss Electric prop.
 
Thank you very much. At first we thought this prop might be off a P38 thus not sure now. My friend remembered a P39 relic or what was left of one near by. It was found in Guadalcanal in the early 1980s. Hollow steel blade. ROUGH MEASUREMENTS 65 3/4 INCHES WIDTH 11 INCHES. corroded etc for the time on the ground/elements
 
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