Object Details
Physical Description
Type: Two-Blade, Fixed-Pitch, Wood
Diameter: 306.1 cm (120.5 in.
Chord: Unknown
Engine Application: Liberty L-12, 300 kw (400 hp)
Summary
An early predominant manufacturer in the United States, Spencer Heath's American Propeller and Manufacturing Company opened in Baltimore in 1909. Heath was first to use machines for mass production of aircraft propellers and, under the Paragon trademark, these were widely used in World War I. Like most propellers of that era, construction was a wood laminate because of light weight, strength, fabrication ease, and resistance to fatigue in a vibrating and flexing environment.
The artifact's shape indicates it is a Flexible Variable Pitch propeller. The manufacturer's brochure states: "These propellers are designed on the principle that the blade should constantly bend . . . accompanied by a torsional or twisting action by which the pitch would automatically change . . ." The description indicates they are for the U.S. Navy Curtiss NC-4 seaplane, the first aircraft to fly across the North Atlantic, an epic feat in 1919.
Credit Line
Transferred from the Navy Department
Date
1919
Inventory Number
A19270032007
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Type
PROPULSION-Propellers & Impellers
Materials
Wood
Steel
Paint
Paper
Adhesive
Ink
Dimensions
Rotor/Propeller: 306.1 x 28.6 x 18.7 x 1.3 x 7.6cm (10 ft. 1/2 in. x 11 1/4 in. x 7 3/8 in. x 1/2 in. x 3 in.)
Storage (Rehoused in original crate on an aluminum pallet): 133.7 × 345.4 × 115.1cm, 700.8kg (52 5/8 in. × 11 ft. 4 in. × 45 5/16 in., 1545lb.)
Country of Origin
United States of America
See more items in
National Air and Space Museum Collection
Data Source
National Air and Space Museum
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nasm_A19270032007