WWI Wooden Laminated Propeller & Clock
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WWI Wooden Laminated Propeller & clock A very rare and graceful laminated wooden propeller made by the Integral Prop Company. The propeller was used on a 90 horse power Royal Aircraft Factory engine 1, with a DH6 aircraft, whose stability enabled it to become an all-weather anti-sub aircraft when the U-Boat menace became a danger to Great Britain in 1917. With a length of just over 9 feet (278cms), this will be a dominant feature on any wall and an interesting talking point. The clock is an early Mercer electrical clock, giving almost silent operation. The underside of the hub is stamped IPC 23770 D278 (indicating a diameter of 2.78 m) P330 (indicating a pitch of 3.30m) HP 90 RAF DE H 6 (Arco deHavilland 6) G586 N65 (indicating the sixty-fifth prop in batch 586) 50887 (the serial number of IPC). This information was gleaned from Bob Gardner, whose excellent website www.woodenpropeller.com is a mine of information. Thanks Bob! Another propeller from batch G583 Bob dates to autumn of 1917, so this one was presumably made very shortly afterwards. The front of the propeller is also stamped with a military insignia. The timepiece clock is from a bulkhead marine clock by Mercer from around 1930. Originally a slave clock , it is now retro-fitted with a slave impulser to run independently. It is powered by a standard 1.5-volt batteries, concealed within the hub. The silvered 6-inch dial has Arabic numerals within a minute- track and is signed MERCER, ST. ALBANS, ENGLAND. 1935 De Havilland wooden Gipsy VI Propeller and clock An original two-bladed brass-edged wooden propeller from a De Havilland Gipsy VI, retro fitted with a mid 20th century timepiece clock. The Propeller The Gipsy VI was used on light sports aircraft from the 1930s including the de Havilland Moths. The base of the hub is mounted with a brass plate stamped ‘DRG No DH 5238/F/9 GIPSY VI LH‘ and ‘D6 75 P6 3 JUNE 35 AC 38149’. The blades are brass edged on the leading side for protection. The laminated wood has been polished, and the propeller blades remains in very good original condition. The Clock The mid 20th century clock has been retro fitted into the hub. It has an English made electro- magnetic movement, powered by a standard battery. The clock has matching black steel hands to the cream opainted dial. The movement is to be overhauled and will be guaranteed for 3 years. Overall length: 6 feet 3 inches (190cms) Laminated Wooden Propeller with clock A lovely original laminated wooden propeller from March 1930, now retro fitted with a mechanical bulkhead clock of a similar era. The polished blades have an overall length of 142cms, with the leading edge finished with a brass strip. The central hub has been widened to now accommodate a bulkhead timepiece clock with hinged brass glass door. The hub is stamped twice on the reverse 17652. The front is stamped D 1420 P1050 (D: diameter, P: pitch) A.C.G. No. 17652 MAR/30 (date) To the other side are these markings: DRG No. Z.208 (drawing number) ABC Scorpion II The ABC Scorpion II is a 34 hp (25 kW) two-cylinder aero engine designed by British engineer Granville Bradshaw for use in light aircraft. The engine was built by ABC Motors Limited and first ran in 1924 [source: Wikipedia] Of the aircraft that was powered by a Scorpion II engine, a surviving ANEC II (G-EBJO) flies regularly at the Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden. The clock by Buren has a fully overhauled 8-day movement with a jewelled Swiss lever platform escapement. The back is stamped SWISS MADE, with the serial number 97819. The perfect white 4 1/2-inch dial is protected by a hinged cast brass bezel fitted with thick beveled glass. The clock can be set within the hub at any angle, so as to hand the propeller vertically, horizontally, or anything between. 1940s wooden four-blade propeller clock A genuine four-bladed laminated wood propeller, c.1940s, retro-fitted with a dashboard clock by Smiths, from the same era. The hub is stamped with the DRG number T29505/2, and 11220. Bob Gardner from the woodenpropeller.com forum gives the following information about this propeller: a winch propeller from a target tug aircraft, most probably a WW2 aircraft. When not in use it rested inside the fuselage of the aircraft. The aircraft towed the target drogue off the ground and when required for target practice, this prop was lowered into the airstream to provide the power for the winch which let out the drogue quite a long distance behind the aircraft; at least several hundred yards; sometimes nearly a mile. The letter T on the drawing number indicates the authority that designed it, the Royal Aircraft Establishment. The mechanical clock is bezel wound, and has a pull-out knob at the front to set the hands. It is overhauled and guaranteed for 3 years. Biplane Wooden Aircraft Propeller with clock A 1917 wooden aircraft propeller from a World War I Royal Flying Corps Scout Experimental 5, one of the fastest British biplane fighter aircraft of the first World war, and also one of the most agile. The propeller is a fine wooden sculpture, and would be a great decorative feature to any wall, vertically, horizontally, or at any angle you please. The clock can be twisted within the hub to suit. The propeller is branded to the hub T28066 Trevor Page & Co Ltd, 150HP Hispano Suiza SE5 T5. It also has makers decals to each blade, and a (barely discernable) crow’s foot mark indicating its history in the British military forces. The hub has now been fitted with an 8-day mechanical English Smiths bulkhead ships clock, with a red centre seconds hand. The Coventry Astral movement no. 288 has a platform escapement. The 6-inch dial sits behind a heavy cast brass hinged bezel. Trevor Page & Co Norwich, were upholsterers and cabinet makers, clearly called upon to manufacturer propellers for the war effort. The clock is overhauled and guaranteed for 3 years. Overall length, tip to tip: 234cms The photo of the Scout Experimental 5A is The Shuttleworth Trust’s SE5A at Old Warden’s Summer Show 2009 [courtesy TSRL – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7054875] 1930s Wooden Propeller Clock A two-bladed wooden propeller from Armstrong Siddley Cheetah X aero engine, retro fitted with a timepiece 8-day clock. The Propeller The base of the hub is mounted with a brass plate stamped ‘DRG No.Z 3934/3 Cheetah X LH D.7.17 P7.17’. Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah is a seven-cylinder British air-cooled aircraft radial engine of 834 cu in (13.65 L) capacity introduced in 1935 and produced until 1948. Model X was introduced in 1938. The Cheetah engine was used on a variety of aircraft, including: Airspeed Oxford Airspeed – various other models Avro Anson Avro 626 and 652 Bristol Bulldog De Havilland Hawk Moth The Clock The 8-day bulkhead clock is set in a heavy cast brass hinged bezel. The movement has a platform escapement. A regulation lever extends through the dial above the subsidiary seconds dial. The original white dial is signed for Kelvin, White & Hutton. It has matching blued steel hands. The movement has been overhauled and is guaranteed for 3 years. Kelvin, White & Hutton are listed as working at 11 Billiter Street, London from 1904 to 1937. The firm was founded by William Thompson who later became Lord Kelvin. At age 21 he was offered the Professorship of Natural Philosophy at Glasgow University, a post he held for 53 years. Overall length: 7 feet 2 inches (220cms) Width: 11 inches (27 cms) Depth: 7¾ inches (19.5 cms) WW1 wooden Propeller mounted with a clock An original First World War 4-blade truncated propeller constructed out of strips of walnut & mahogany, and finished to a high polish. It would have been fitted to a Royal Airforce Factory RE8 reconnaissance light bomber biplane commissioned in 1917, powered by a RAF 4A 12-cylinder 140HP air cooled engine. It is now fitted with an English-made 6-inch diameter bulkhead clock, which was also military (Royal Navy), as denoted by the broad ordnance arrow and the pattern number 0552/461-9296, both painted on the black dial. The clock was allegedly originally from a submarine. It has a key-wound 8-day movement, with red centre seconds hand and a Slow / Fast regulation slot below the 12. The clockmakers, F.W. Elliott Ltd. began in 1923 in Croydon. They started to produce clocks for the armed forces when war was declared in 1939, together with test gear and apparatus for the Rolls Royce engines used in the RAF planes. The factory was hit by incendiary bombs in 1943 on two occasions but production was not seriously affected. The company continued making fine quality clocks until the late years of the 20th century. The clock is overhauled and guaranteed for 3 years. Height: 14½ inches (37cms) Width: 21 inches (53 cms) Depth: 8¼ inches (21cms) Early 1960s Sensenich Propeller Clock Sensenich airplane propeller, Model: M74DM, serial number A33067. This genuine aluminium alloy aircraft propellor has a length of 74″, the hub now housing an early- mid C20th timepiece mechanical clock. The original paintwork can be seen on several of the images, but this has now been stripped and the aluminium polished to give a modern bright finish.