I have 3 spitfire propeller blades from one whole prop from a ww2 airfield crash. The crash broke the blades off as evident. They still retain thier fading camouflage finish. Is it possible to trace the plane from the serial number ive attached photos of? These were exhibited in a museum long ago.
Spitfire propeller blades
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Humm .. looking at the blades and their shape I get the impression these may be not from one prop but come from three different props. Judging by the markings there , the yellow disks with the A and E lettres these are the Rotol balanced prop blades made of the Spruce or Douglas Fir wood. The "RS" letters can indicate the Rayoid or Rotoloid covering with the brass or steel, simple sheath. A close up inspection of the pics with the prop blade marked with the "A" and "E" letters revealed the DA 9?0(?) number IMHO. The DA prefix indicates the Airscrew Company Ltd. and the Weybridge factory making the props for the Rotol. The material markings the blades were made off, their covering also seem to confirm that. It looks like the blade(s) is/are of the DA940 drawing what may indicate the Hawker Hurricane II, Defiant II or Barracuda I plane. As far as I know very few Weybridge blades made their way onto Spitfires so, although not impossible, it is unlikely. What is more the "E" letter of one prop blade could indicate there were more than the three blades used for the prop. The "A' one is the master blade of the prop so if the E is a part of the airscrew it means there could be five blades rather. I may be wrong but all Rotol prop blades for Spitfire I have seen so far , weren't of the shape and manufacturer's markings.
See also here ...
ww2aircraft.net
And .. to answer your question ... it's impossible to find the plane that had this propeller. Actually there isn't any data that could allow that. There is no serial number of the prop blades. The data was stamped on the wood blade adaptor and on the bottom of the blade root mostly. But even though you have the data there is no way to find out the particular aircraft using the data. The only way to get the info would be to find out the aircraft crash site location and which plane crashed there.
See also here ...
Propeller Identification
Hi All, Attached are photographs of large propellers from (we believe) a military aircraft. Would someone please be able to assist with their identification as to which aircraft they are from and what era. We have 3 similar blades. Regards
ww2aircraft.net
And .. to answer your question ... it's impossible to find the plane that had this propeller. Actually there isn't any data that could allow that. There is no serial number of the prop blades. The data was stamped on the wood blade adaptor and on the bottom of the blade root mostly. But even though you have the data there is no way to find out the particular aircraft using the data. The only way to get the info would be to find out the aircraft crash site location and which plane crashed there.
Michael Hope
Airman 1st Class
- 287
- Jun 28, 2016
The three blades are right hand rotation, so typical could be used on a Merlin. The Griffin used left hand rotation blades and 5 bladed propellers on the Spitfire.
Ah yes .. you are right. I didn't think about that. So more than the four-blade prop can't be taken into consideration. A good catch.
- Thread starter
- #5
Hi, it crashed in ww2 on montrose air strip Scotland, these were exhibited in the museum there some 30plus years ago as from a spitfire crash thereHumm .. looking at the blades and their shape I get the impression these may be not from one prop but come from three different props. Judging by the markings there , the yellow disks with the A and E lettres these are the Rotol balanced prop blades made of the Spruce or Douglas Fir wood. The "RS" letters can indicate the Rayoid or Rotoloid covering with the brass or steel, simple sheath. A close up inspection of the pics with the prop blade marked with the "A" and "E" letters revealed the DA 9?0(?) number IMHO. The DA prefix indicates the Airscrew Company Ltd. and the Weybridge factory making the props for the Rotol. The material markings the blades were made off, their covering also seem to confirm that. It looks like the blade(s) is/are of the DA940 drawing what may indicate the Hawker Hurricane II, Defiant II or Barracuda I plane. As far as I know very few Weybridge blades made their way onto Spitfires so, although not impossible, it is unlikely. What is more the "E" letter of one prop blade could indicate there were more than the three blades used for the prop. The "A' one is the master blade of the prop so if the E is a part of the airscrew it means there could be five blades rather. I may be wrong but all Rotol prop blades for Spitfire I have seen so far , weren't of the shape and manufacturer's markings.
View attachment 875725
View attachment 875738
See also here ...
Propeller Identification
Hi All, Attached are photographs of large propellers from (we believe) a military aircraft. Would someone please be able to assist with their identification as to which aircraft they are from and what era. We have 3 similar blades. Regards
And .. to answer your question ... it's impossible to find the plane that had this propeller. Actually there isn't any data that could allow that. There is no serial number of the prop blades. The data was stamped on the wood blade adaptor and on the bottom of the blade root mostly. But even though you have the data there is no way to find out the particular aircraft using the data. The only way to get the info would be to find out the aircraft crash site location and which plane crashed there.
SaparotRob
Unter Gemeine Geschwader Murmeltier XIII
This place is amazing.
Hi again,
The Montrose air strip in the Scotland is the place you should start researching. IMHO there should be records in the RAF archives about the crash there. Knowing when it happened you may find the correct info.Using the Google a couple of the crashed kites at the RAF station can be found. But these are the Oxford and Anson types mostly. These planes could have the Rotol props with the DA902 blades IIRC.
The list of the RAF planes taking off the airfield is quite long ...
Aircraft flown at RAF Montrose
Airspeed Oxford Mk I, Avro Anson Mk I, Avro Tutor, Boulton Paul Defiant Mk I, Bristol Beaufighter Mk IC, Bristol Beaufort Mk IIA, Bristol Blenheim Mk I, De Havilland Don, De Havilland Hornet, De Havilland Moth, De Havilland Tiger Moth II, Gloster Gauntlet, Gloster Gladiator I, Hawker Fury, Hawker Hart Trainer/ Audax, Hawker Hind, Hawker Hurricane Mk I, IIA, IIB, IIc, Hawker Typhoon, Lockheed Hudson VI, Miles Magister, Miles Martinet TT Mk.I, Miles Master I/II/III, North American Harvard IIb (T-6 Texan), Percival Proctor P.30 II, Supermarine Spitfire Mk I, IIA, IIB, VA, VB, VC, VI, XI., Supermarine Walrus, Westland Lysander Mk II, III, IIIA, Westland Whirlwind I, Fairey Gordon.
You know ... on the ebay site all prop blades offered for trading there must be of the Spitfire. In the same way all images of the Polish planes captured or destroyed in 1939 had to be taken at the Dęblin-Irena airfield. But it is not true very often.
Michael Hope
Airman 1st Class
- 287
- Jun 28, 2016
Spell checks fault for the spelling error.
- Thread starter
- #10
These were actually collected from the museum itself.
And a question though ... have you bought them form the site or you try to sell them there ? At least the DA940 numbers on the A and E blades can be better noticed.
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And the sites say the same I found in my notebook ...
WW2 RAF Propeller Blade, 'DA940' Barracuda, Defiant or Wellington VI. An original propeller which wo
WW2 RAF Propeller Blade, 'DA940' Barracuda, Defiant or Wellington VI. An original propeller ... in Fine Arms, Armour ... (25 Feb 26) by C&T Auctioneers ...
- Thread starter
- #13
OK. But please let me remind you that trading here on the forum isn't allowed.
- Thread starter
- #15
SaparotRob
Unter Gemeine Geschwader Murmeltier XIII
Dang it. I wanted to sell this old PzKpfw IV dad brought back to the States in his duffel bag.
NZTyphoon
Airman 1st Class
Here are some pages from a Rotol propeller guide, showing some of the markings and colours. The yellow disc indicates a Weybridge manufactured blade; the large A = a blade balanced to a master set A; RS = Rotol Jablo Wood with a Rotoloid covering and brass sheath (F Hills & Sons in Manchester was a sub-contractor for Rotol and also used Jablo compressed wood [RS] but, AFAIK they didn't use the yellow disc)
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