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Hartzell Propeller, Fixed-Pitch, Two-Blade, Wood
This Hartzell propeller was manufactured by the U.S. Forest Service's Forest Products Laboratory (FPL), Madison, Wisconsin, for an experiment with wood adhesives. At the time of World War I, the FPL established a propeller laboratory to investigate problems caused by atmospheric humidity.
Allotments from the U.S. War Department financed research on the equipping and operation of an experimental propeller plant, for which the central problem was to produce a propeller with sufficient stability to resist warp, twisting, and unbalancing of the blades with changes in humidity. Such defects had caused countless propeller failures, and FPL established the special laboratory to investigate the problem.
Begun in March 1918, the propeller research involved the manufacture, storage, and finishing of experimental propellers from seven species of wood under closely controlled conditions. Experimental propellers were produced at a rate of 10 a week, a schedule that called for work on a three-shift per day basis.
Display Status
This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.
Object Details
Country of Origin
United States of America
Type
PROPULSION-Propellers & Impellers
Manufacturer
Forest Products Laboratory
Physical Description
Type: Two-Blade, Fixed-Pitch, Wood
Diameter: 254 cm (100 in.)
Chord: 19.1 cm (7.5 in.)
Engine Application: Hall-Scott A-5-A or A-7-A,
Dimensions
Rotor/Propeller: 254 x 19.1 x 19.1 x 10.2 x 0.8 x 6.8cm (100 x 7 1/2 x 7 1/2 x 4 x 5/16 x 2 11/16 in.)
3-D: 254 x 18.7 x 10.2cm (100 x 7 3/8 x 4 in.)
Materials
Wood
Copper Alloy
Varnish
Paint
Inventory Number
A19510012000
Credit Line
Transferred from the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture
Data Source
National Air and Space Museum
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