Posted 10 years ago
Foundaroun…
(295 items)
Good evening, I wanted to post about a recent find in a Dallas garage. I buy unique items from people. While purchasing a mid century modern chair from an elderly lady. I asked her if she had any other items she might be interested in selling. She said yes I've got lots of stuff. I followed her out to her garage and when we opened the garage door you could barely walk inside. She and her husband had lived in this home since 1952. After a short time I was able to pick a few items out that I was interested in purchasing. She informed me that there was another side of the garage, so we open the second door and entered. After my eyes adjusted to the light I noticed that there was a large wood propeller leaned against the wall. I asked her if this was something she was interested in selling ? she said it had belonged to her father. She asked me to bring it out into the light and after looking at it we noticed that the tip had some rot on it, but the rest of the propeller was in very good condition for its age.it had not been restored it had years of dust on it. I am anxious to get it cleaned up but would like very much some information on possibly restoring the tip that was damaged.
I believe this is an mohagany PARAGON 8 ft Propeller.
On the HUB numbers 13269
PARAGON EMBLEM both left and right side of hub
On one side : B
3933 then under that BA. CORYN
Cir with AID 1M 42 /
On other side :
8L3" x 600
RIGHT HAND
Do not restore the tip ! Go to Woodenpropeller.com to read all you need to know. It will even tell you which engine the prop is off of.
very nice!!
Your propeller is WW1 era and made for the Curtiss JN4C "Jenny".
As a trench art collector, I have numerous prop pieces; and it pays to know if a prop actually came off of an era aircraft vs. a later (or civilian) one.
Here is a great site that I use for ID information:
http://www.woodenpropeller.com/Jenny.html
These WW1 props are VERY desirable.
scott
Thanks for the comments everyone.
This made it worthwhile coming back to CW for a peek! I ran the prop overhaul shop for a FBO for a few years & always loved the old wooden props. I always got talked into giving the ones I kept to somebody & now wish I hadn't been so easy. Most people wouldn't think about this, but they were to left in the horizontal or the moisture in the wood would settle in the low blade & cause an imbalance & could shake an eng. mount apart. When balancing props, I had to turn off all heating or cooling in the balancing room & close all doors to eliminate any air flow. Could get really hot or cold depending on the time of year! This brought back old memories & thanks.
American Propeller Manufacturing Company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
American Propeller Manufacturing Company Founded 1909, Washington D.C.
Key people
Spencer Heath, J.M. Creamer
Products Paragon Propellers
Number of employees
1200 in 1918
American Propeller and Manufacturing Company, in Baltimore manufactured 75 percent of all propellers used by America in WWI.[1]
Contents
1 History
2 On display
3 See also
4 References
4.1 Bibliography
5 External links
History
APMC was founded by a patent lawyer and engineering consultant Spencer Heath. His clients included Simon Lake, inventor of the even-keel-submerging submarine, and Emile Berliner, inventor of the flat-disk phonograph record. Heath helped Berliner design and build the first rotary engine blades used in helicopters while working in Washington as general manager of the Gyro Motor Company.[2] Heath developed and first mass-produced airplane propellers at APMC. In 1922 he founded Paragon Engineers inc, and demonstrated the first engine-powered and controlled, variable and reversible pitch propeller.
AMPC was initially founded in Washington D.C to build low-production experimental and custom propellers under the name Paragon.[3] In 1912 the company moved to Baltimore, Maryland. Initial propellers were built with Mahogany wood, followed by Oak with sprucewood cores, and by 1915 APMC converted to solid oak construction. With the onset of WWI, AMPC became the largest manufacturer of wooden aircraft propellers in America by 1918. Four manufacturing plants operated in Baltimore to meet WWI production contracts . The 95,000 sq foot plant number four was constructed in 1918 specifically for propeller production with a capacity of 300-500 propellers per day. An additional 90 propellers a day were produced at the other three plants. The plants used 158,000 sqft of dry kilns to process wood and custom duplicating machines that reduce the number of lathes required for the construction process. Over 25,000 propellers were produced in WWI with 8000 delivered to the Royal Flying Corps Canada.[4]
In 1937, The company took a case to the United States Supreme court. The company stated it was owed income from contracts ending in 1918, the government counterclaimed several years later that it was overcharged. The difference between the amounts was roughly $12,000 in favor of APMC. While each side litigated who owed each other for over a decade, both sides charged interest, changing the amount to be payment to a penalty of over $36,000. The court ruled in favor of APMC, stating the counter claim failed to provide adequate evidence initially, so accrued interest could not be charged[5]
wow! great post!
I could not figure out how to post photos here in this thread.
If interested go to:
"American Propeller Company, Paragon Model for a Curtiss Jenny"
Great prop ! I need to find one !!