Stearman

[Chukpike]

I wish to confirm this is a Stearman propeller. It is 96" long. Has what looks to be a USN inspection stamp. I am pretty sure all flying Stearman have composite props now. This is a nice prop and their is no indication it was ever on a plane. Might not have passed inspection.

My flickr photo Stearman

[Bob Hudson]

I wish to confirm this is a Stearman propeller. It is 96" long. Has what looks to be a USN inspection stamp. I am pretty sure all flying Stearman have composite props now. This is a nice prop and their is no indication it was ever on a plane. Might not have passed inspection.

My flickr photo Stearman

 

 

That is a US Propellers Inc. model 96LG. US Propellers mostly made props for unmanned target drones but did make some for aircraft. This model is rated is for 220 HP and 1925 RPM. The Lycoming engines and the Continental R-670 (both 220 hp) engine used in some of the Navy's Stearman Model 75's might fit within those specs. One source says "The propellers generally in use on Stearmans are the Sensenich wooden prop." Sensinich coincidently was also a company that also made props for drones. I can find no reference to US Propellers props being used in Stearmans but US Propellors apparently did recondition some Sensenich props.

[Chukpike]

I have found some of the same information on US propellers. One interesting note is that US Propellers was a southern Calif Co. Same location where the Stearman was designed before Boeing bought them out. I realize that US Props made mostly drone props, but since this is a 8ft prop that would be a bit much for a drone. I doubt it is even possible to confirm who all made props for Stearman's during the war. As the Stearman's were in almost non stop use as trainers, how often did these propellers get replaced. Found some info that says after the war the government was selling these planes for a few hundred dollars.

[Lee Ragan]

One of my late uncles flew Stearmans as a crop duster pilot in the mid 1950's. This was somewhere in East Texas and he told me years ago that the spraying contractor he flew for, was buying surplus Stearmans by the boxcar load at about $200 per airframe (less engine). He told me that the spraying company was a large operation that employed a lot of pilots and they bought so may planes because they were wreaking them pretty fast. They had a full time erection crew putting these together and modifying them to be crop dusters.

My uncle was nearly killed in a bad crash in 1955 while flying one of these duster Stearmans. He spent two years in the hospital and never flew as a crop duster pilot again. He became a successful commercial artist and passed away about 3 or 4 years ago. He was also an enlisted man in the AAF during WWII.

[Gregory]

I wish to confirm this is a Stearman propeller. It is 96" long. Has what looks to be a USN inspection stamp. I am pretty sure all flying Stearman have composite props now. This is a nice prop and their is no indication it was ever on a plane. Might not have passed inspection.

My flickr photo Stearman

Hello,

 

This propeller is not for the Kaydet. The Kaydets were powered by the props of four companies -- Curtiss-Reed, McCauley, Hamilton Standard and Sensenich. The last of mentioned companies delivered for the Kaydets large number of wooden propellers under both civil and military designations -- see below:

 

Sensenich 90AA-64 (military designation Sensenich 44K9705)

Sensenich 90AA-68

Sensenich 90AB-64

Sensenich 90AB-68

Sensenich 90AC-64

Sensenich 90AC-68

Sensenich 98AA-64 (military designation Sensenich 43K19593)

Sensenich 98AA-66 (military designation Sensenich 43K19593)

Sensenich 98AA-68

Sensenich 98AB-64

Sensenich 98AB-66

Sensenich 98AB-68

Sensenich 98AC-64

Sensenich 98AC-66

Sensenich 98AC-68

 

 

Best regards

 

Greg