Possible German aircraft propeller need help with ID

[littorio]

This blade looks like it was painted with rlm70. It seems like there are faint traces of red primer near the base but very very faint. The story is it was found in Tunbridge England in 1962. The amount of corrosion on it suggests either underwater or mud. I managed to scrape up some identification numbers and symbols. Can anybody help me identify what this blade is from? I plan on continuing the cleaning process to see if anything else is revealed.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

I saw this posted to one of my FB groups. Was it you that posted it?

 

[ThomasP]

The only airframe I have on my list that used the VDM 9-11019.xx blade design is the Do 18 - BUT my list is far from complete and it is quite possible that the blade design was fitted to other airframes as well.

edit: sorry typo, changed 11018 to 11019

 

[littorio]

I saw this posted to one of my FB groups. Was it you that posted it?

Yup. Thought it was 109 or 110 don't know for sure. Need help ID'ing form actual enthusiast instead of hashing through who is actually experienced giving good feedback vs model builders shooting off the hip with a fly by night opinion just to get noticed.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

You have come to right place. Give us a few days, and I am sure we will have everything identified.

 

[ThomasP]

Apologies, I made a typo in my post#3 - have corrected it.

 

[littorio]

The only airframe I have on my list that used the VDM 9-11019.xx blade design is the Do 18 - BUT my list is far from complete and it is quite possible that the blade design was fitted to other airframes as well.

edit: sorry typo, changed 11018 to 11019

Great Tom!! Some questions. So I am assuming when you say VDM it is in response to the numbers (saw the correction). What is the little emblem stamped into it mean? What company is it? It almost looks like it says b a t or b a l I can't make out the last character completely?

 

[littorio]

You have come to right place. Give us a few days, and I am sure we will have everything identified.

I'm pretty excited to see the outcome of this one

 

[ThomasP]

Hey littorio,

I think the logo in the octagon is for the "Bauaufsicht der Luftwaffe" which was the agency that did general acceptance inspection of incoming equipment for the German Luftwaffe during? prior to? WWII. Similar to the UK Air Ministry's Aeronautical Inspection Department (AID) which was the agency responsible for inspecting and certifying that materials and equipment met standards.

 

[littorio]

Hey littorio,

I think the logo in the octagon is for the "Bauaufsicht der Luftwaffe" which was the agency that did general acceptance inspection of incoming equipment for the German Luftwaffe during? prior to? WWII. Similar to the UK Air Ministry's Aeronautical Inspection Department (AID) which was the agency responsible for inspecting and certifying that materials and equipment meet standards.

That is fantastic information! Good news so far thank you! Do you know if there is a German prop ID dictionary out there? Does anybody have a series of numbers that coincides with propeller blades to get an idea of what aircraft may have used it?

 

[littorio]

I am pouring through photos of early do17's. Although the numbers correspond with do18s, is it possible that these blades were used for the bombers as well? This would explain why it ended up in Tunbridge I would imagine. Looking at black and white photos there are examples of aircraft that seem very very similar if not a really good match to the blade that I have.

If it is the do-18, there doesn't seem to be an awful lot of them to begin with. That by itself is pretty exciting. In this scenario it would be unlikely that it came from Tunbridge and more likely off the coast of England somewhere. Again how many options off the coast of England are there? It doesn't seem like there were an awful lot of them shot down in the English channel, but definitely seems to be a few examples. They look like they went down in deep water, is it possible the blade washed up in the 1960s?

So what are the possibilities? A downed do 17 in England, or a downed do 18 in the channel?

 

[woodhaven]

 

[littorio]

Where (if any) can I find a list of DO-18 losses in WWII?

 

[special ed]

There was a recent photo on Ebay of a Do 18 sinking in the channel said to have been shot down by a Hudson.

 

[Engineman]

Hi Littorio,
The corrosion Gods were just-about helpful! Yes, I make that 9-11019.10 which is the VDM prop for the Do 18 with Jumo 205 pushing engine/prop.
Cheers

Eng

 

[Engineman]

Oh Yes,
ThomasP great post, spot on with the BAL acceptance stamp.

Eng

 

[littorio]

There was a recent photo on Ebay of a Do 18 sinking in the channel said to have been shot down by a Hudson.

I saw that picture. It looks like there was only about 68 in total in service during world war II. I can't imagine there's many of these examples out there so it's a pretty cool find I think. Considering the corrosion I would think this thing got fished out of the channel. I can't imagine there are many English crash sites to choose from the question is where can I find a list. Perhaps this one was shot down closer to England since it still retains the original paint for the most part and relatively intact. I'm thinking something that was out in deeper ocean would have gotten beat up if it was caught in a dragnet and brought to the top maybe?

 

[littorio]

Hi Littorio,
The corrosion Gods were just-about helpful! Yes, I make that 9-11019.10 which is the VDM prop for the Do 18 with Jumo 205 pushing engine/prop.
Cheers

Eng

Definitely lucky with the number being visible! Seeing they weren't too many of these aircraft flying around England this find becomes very unique and exciting to have. Love to find out how many of them were shot down around England just so the imagination could guess which one it might belong to.