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This is the place where the majority of the warbird (aircraft that have survived military service) discussions will take place. Specialized forums may be added in the new future
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Bought a new toy off Craigslist, I couldn't resist. :)

Mon Nov 09, 2009 3:38 pm

It is a Freedman-Burnham Propeller blade,
No Idea what it fits, but it looked cool.

Image

I polished up the leading edge at work this morning, it looks great.

Mon Nov 09, 2009 3:42 pm

Very pretty, might be able to ID it here
http://www.notplanejane.com/freedman.htm

Mon Nov 09, 2009 4:09 pm

Yup,
I went there when I first saw the ad, then Shannon said, "Go ahead and call" I figured it was rare enough and the price was right.
I called and talked to the guy, he had just bought the contents of a storage unit and it was in the back. I gassed up the car, hit the road and was back in 3 hours, with a large, heavy, piece of wood for our living room. :)

Anybody got an idea of a value for this thing?

Mon Nov 09, 2009 4:15 pm

krlang wrote:Anybody got an idea of a value for this thing?

Before or after you polished the natural patina off of it? :shock: :lol:

you could Dremmel out the back of it....

Mon Nov 09, 2009 4:34 pm

...and make it into a pickle serving dish!

good find and great save!
:D

Mon Nov 09, 2009 4:53 pm

Nah! It's a Cheese cutter!!! For when you REALLY need to cut the cheese! :shock:

Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:17 pm

Really nice, but like airnutz said...if there was a good value in it, then it was probably devalued by removing the natural aged patina.

But like they say, it's yours and you can do anything you want with it.

Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:31 pm

I doubt, by the looks of it, that it had an nice old patina, the wood is all fresh and lacquered, so I imagine that the brass had been redone as well. No old patina to clean, just newer grunge on it that just made it look dirty! Stick it on an airplane and put a few hundred hours on it, THEN it will look authentic!

Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:46 pm

Sorry,
Its got plenty of patina on the shank though. :D

It looks really good on the floor in the living room.
(Just hankering for cheese cutting)

Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:49 pm

Hey, I have it's ugly step sisters!!

Image

Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:51 pm

$300 at an antique market? Hard to say really. That price would be different than the value to someone who actually needed it. The wooden props vary so widely in price though. I paid $300 for the one in my living room in '03. Since then at the same antique market, I've seen far worse and smaller props marked $1000.

Image

Mon Nov 09, 2009 6:39 pm

LOL.......well if this is the same blade that was advertised on Craigslist in NH for 60 bucks..........you did good!! Seen it last night but I did not call.


BTW, if its what I think it was. It went on some early BT-13's. During the beginings of the war, aluminum was at a premium so wood blades were made for the Hamilton 2D30 prop. Somewhere I got a pic of a complete one on display.

Mon Nov 09, 2009 8:14 pm

It's short and fat and looks like it was intended to produce lots of thrust , and go slow. So here are my guesses.
1) Consolidated L-13 with Franklin engine
2) Goodyear Navy blimp 1940's/50's era.
3) Boeing Stearman YL-15 on floats
Something weird like one of those.

Old blades

Mon Nov 09, 2009 8:49 pm

Another use for the COMPREG wooden blades in WWII was the last series of the Vultee Vibrator training plane - specifically BT-13B. This late 1943 - into 1944.

Many of the wooden blades for the BTs were MFG'ed by ERCO in Baltimore, MD. I can provide you measures if this is helpful.

Just FYI.

Mon Nov 09, 2009 10:04 pm

"It's short and fat and looks like it was intended to produce lots of thrust , and go slow. "
Come-on, Ken isn't short! :P

Nice find, Kenny

Philo
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