WWI propeller

28 January 2000, 04:09 PM

i have 2 propellers from WWI. one is off a spadXIII. i don't know what the other one is off of. it has 2 decales on it, they are both the same. the decale is oval. in the middle is an eagle with "eagle" printed over it. on the top of the oval is "B.SHONINC? COMPANY" and on the bottom of the oval is "NEW HAVEN CONN. USA". any idea what it is off of? also what are they worth.

thanks,
tom woznica
cicero n.y.

30 January 2000, 05:43 PM

Look for numbers stamped around the hub area of both props. They can often (but certainly not always) give an indication of what the prop was designed for or sometimes, in the case of the SPAD prop, who the manufacturer was. I would have to look through some paperwork I have, but I believe Shonig was a piano or a furniture manufacturer that, like literally hundreds of similar companies, got into the propeller making business in the late teens, bidding on contracts especially from the Navy for their flying boats.
Estimating an accurate value of the props is not easy. There is not a large enough market activity to establish much of a trend. It would also depend very much on the condition, etc. and the ability to confirm true identities.
Do you have any more information, i.e. numbers?

31 January 2000, 07:54 AM

Dave,
on one of the props(not the one with the eagle on it) it is stamped " N P" and under it is "S B 1032". I hope this helps. thanks so much for the info so far.

Tom

Doc · 31 January 2000, 04:08 PM

I also have a propeller from what appears to be WW1 era It has the letter "G" then a couple of numbers no other inscription please help!!!!!!!!

1 February 2000, 02:00 AM

The "G" on Doc's prop could mean anything, and the numbers or letters that follow it are as important. Many props for Gnome engines have a "Gn" followed by the horsepower. There were several French manufacturers beginning with G (Gallia, Georges, La Granville, Gremont), but I can't find a British prop with a G prefix.
Send more numbers and/or a photo for best results. Dave

joegertler · 1 February 2000, 04:08 AM

How about the fairly common French?Garrauda/Garruda (spelling eludes me at the moment)? I think I used to have one off a BE. They advertised extensively in all the WWI & earlier aviation magazines. Dave is right about the other numbers being key to identity of plane it came from. For all those with unidentified props, there are several charts out there with long lists of numbers that identify plane & engine prop is for, by the design number. There was a particularly useful (and LONG one) in one of the WWI AERO mags some years back. I used to refer to it a lot. But so much time has gone by, I can't pinpoint it from memory. I'm guessing it was 15 years ago or more. Leo may know.

1 February 2000, 05:30 AM

I have that list (if it is the one I think it is, originally from Bruce Robertson) and I would be happy to make it available to anyone. It only covers British made propellers. I have spent years trying to find a good listing of U.S. built propellers, but have not been successful. This research has included several trips to Washington to the NASM, the National Archives, and the Library of Congress. All of the other museums I have contacted have said basically the same thing, "We don't have it, but please send us the book when you publish it!", so if anyone has anything, please let me know.
Also, I am in the process of setting up a website (www.woodenpropeller.com already reserved for it) to collect as much info and distribute as much info about propellers like this as possible. Stay tuned. I'll certainly post a thread when it is up and running. Dave