WW2 US Navy Propellers?

[mindofmetal]

Hey good afternoon everyone. I was given these propellers by my brother some years ago and know absolutely nothing about them. The props have several markings around the outer edge but they are faint and hard to capture on camera. I will gladly try and get more detailed/specific photos if need be. One propeller is 50 inches and the other is 49.5. I was able to make out an anchor stamp with a US that led me to believe these were from a Navy plane.
My questions are:
When were these made?
What did they come off of?
How much are they worth?

I thank you in advance for your knowledge and input. I look forward to reading the responses. Hope y'all have a great day.
-Dave

 

[Michael Hope]

By looking at the images, it appears that you have two different manufacturers blades, one could be a MCCAULEY Propellers for a Boeing Stearman Navy Blade, the SS-135-6M, the other one I can not.

 

[mjfur]

It might help if you wrote out the numbers/letters that you see. A little hard to read from the photos.

Just a guess, perhaps a McCauley prop for a Stearman (N2S in Navy).

 

[Tom Fey]

Put a magnet on them, see if they are steel. Perhaps those two shapely blades opposed on the leather couch are hollow steel, which may indicate Curtiss blades as none on the numbers match Aerroproducts numbering conventions.

 

[MiTasol]

They are definitely not Curtiss or Hamilton Standard as the butt ends are the wrong shape. and as pointed out before, appear to be from two different props.
Value - zero for flight as they are too corroded. May be of interest to someone who is doing a static restoration.
And I agree that you need to type all the part and serial numbers to enable positive identification.

 

[Prop Doctor]

Hey good afternoon everyone. I was given these propellers by my brother some years ago and know absolutely nothing about them. The props have several markings around the outer edge but they are faint and hard to capture on camera. I will gladly try and get more detailed/specific photos if need be. One propeller is 50 inches and the other is 49.5. I was able to make out an anchor stamp with a US that led me to believe these were from a Navy plane.
My questions are:
When were these made?
What did they come off of?
How much are they worth?

I thank you in advance for your knowledge and input. I look forward to reading the responses. Hope y'all have a great day.
-Dave

That is a very old blade, obviously. But the data stamped into blades are the blade serial number, the blade DWG(drawing number) basically the configuration of the blade so that blades are not interchanged with other blades that may seem or look alike. Hard to tell what maker it is but I'd say Hamilton Standard, most props have been that brand not all however. Aeroprop, Curtis electric, and to a lesser degree for smaller props Hartzel have been around for some time. But I'm going with HS. You might want to get into HS's companies info, they may be able to help. Almost no blades are perfect in their casting or grinding they are almost all either overly efficient or under efficient so there is a stamp on the blade which can be confusing because it has to be taken into account when adjusting blade angle at the depot level. That stamped number on some brands means that you are directed to correct the blade angle as much as the stamp requires accordingly . Other brands tell you what the blade is and you compensate ie The blade says - .02 so one would compensate and adjust it + .02 of a degree. On other brands it is telling you to adjust it -.02 of a degree. If someone jumps on my about 100ths of a degree or minutes of a degree, I'm trying to keep it simple to understand.

 

[MiTasol]

I very much doubt they are HS as all the HS blades I have seen, variable pitch and ground adjustable, have a radius on the top of the flange. See item K on the diagram below from the HS blade overhaul manual.

Try and get a good photo of the circular stamp above 9523 as that will probably be a makers stamp though it could also be a circle with both an H and a T in it meaning heat treat. One stamp looks USN to me.
And list all the numbers stamped in.

 

[Michael Hope]

That is a very old blade, obviously. But the data stamped into blades are the blade serial number, the blade DWG(drawing number) basically the configuration of the blade so that blades are not interchanged with other blades that may seem or look alike. Hard to tell what maker it is but I'd say Hamilton Standard, most props have been that brand not all however. Aeroprop, Curtis electric, and to a lesser degree for smaller props Hartzel have been around for some time. But I'm going with HS. You might want to get into HS's companies info, they may be able to help. Almost no blades are perfect in their casting or grinding they are almost all either overly efficient or under efficient so there is a stamp on the blade which can be confusing because it has to be taken into account when adjusting blade angle at the depot level. That stamped number on some brands means that you are directed to correct the blade angle as much as the stamp requires accordingly . Other brands tell you what the blade is and you compensate ie The blade says - .02 so one would compensate and adjust it + .02 of a degree. On other brands it is telling you to adjust it -.02 of a degree. If someone jumps on my about 100ths of a degree or minutes of a degree, I'm trying to keep it simple to understand.

What kind of "PROP DOCTOR" are you, just interested not a comment on your screen name. One of the blades is a McCauley "SS-135-6M", the other one is not as the shank is a different shape. They do not appear to be Hamilton Standard to me.

 

[Prop Doctor]

What kind of "PROP DOCTOR" are you, just interested not a comment on your screen name. One of the blades is a McCauley "SS-135-6M", the other one is not as the shank is a different shape. They do not appear to be Hamilton Standard to me.

I worked for the Dept of the Navy at the Alameda Naval Air Station and Cherry Point MCAS(Marine Corps Air Station) We overhauled P-3 props. Back in the earlier days I've worked on about everything the Navy and US Air Force flew. I spent 4 years reg Air Force and worked on about everything they flew back n the 60's from O-1 Bird Dogs to C-133's and everything in between, Air Force was all flight line maintenance but the Navy was overhaul maintenance. I have wrenched on Hamilton Standard, Aeroprops, Curtis Electric, mostly. Not much time on small props though 0-1's and O-2's. The prop we are alluding to is not in my purview of expertise, it has to be a 1920 or 30's technology. Mine was a broad statement, I wasn't claiming expertise on those blades. There is just some information stamped into all blades that must be used when putting a prop together so that not only static balance but aerodynamic balance is attained. Aerodynamic balance is making sure that each blade is putting out the same amount of thrust or it one gets a vibration which can literally shake the engine off the wing in severe cases, it's happened.

 

[Michael Hope]

I worked for the Dept of the Navy at the Alameda Naval Air Station and Cherry Point MCAS(Marine Corps Air Station) We overhauled P-3 props. Back in the earlier days I've worked on about everything the Navy and US Air Force flew. I spent 4 years reg Air Force and worked on about everything they flew back n the 60's from O-1 Bird Dogs to C-133's and everything in between, Air Force was all flight line maintenance but the Navy was overhaul maintenance. I have wrenched on Hamilton Standard, Aeroprops, Curtis Electric, mostly. Not much time on small props though 0-1's and O-2's. The prop we are alluding to is not in my purview of expertise, it has to be a 1920 or 30's technology. Mine was a broad statement, I wasn't claiming expertise on those blades. There is just some information stamped into all blades that must be used when putting a prop together so that not only static balance but aerodynamic balance is attained. Aerodynamic balance is making sure that each blade is putting out the same amount of thrust or it one gets a vibration which can literally shake the engine off the wing in severe cases, it's happened.

Thank you for the reply. I am also a Propeller Professional, I have been in the propeller overhaul business for over 40 years. Worked on all the small stuff to the C-130 Hamilton Standard prop, similar to the P-3 Prop, plus some large like the L1649 propellers, 17 foot in diameter.

 

[Prop Doctor]

Thank you for the reply. I am also a Propeller Professional, I have been in the propeller overhaul business for over 40 years. Worked on all the small stuff to the C-130 Hamilton Standard prop, similar to the P-3 Prop, plus some large like the L1649 propellers, 17 foot in diameter.

54H60-77 vs 54H60-101 if memory serves. I was in final assembly, I built, calculated shims, adjusted blade angle, static balanced, boxed and sent them out. I used to scratch DC on the blade shim, my way of personalizing them.