ERCO Propeller Blade for Vultee BT-13 Valiant

[USdog]

I picked this up at a flea market not long ago and with the help of the webmaster of notplanejane.com, I was able to restore it to original configuration. Typically I would leave something like this as is, however, it was in total disrepair with having a split in the wood, wrong color hub, really rough wood. I think it had sat outside for a very long time. So I repaired the crack, sanded it so it was once again very smooth then put furniture oil on it, painted the hub silver as it was originally, and shined it up a bit.

 

I was told by the webmaster of the website above that this the "D" shank blade designed by ERCO during WWII. This type was mostly used on the Vultee BT-13 Valiant and a few AT-6's to replace the Hamilton Standard propellers for military training purposes as aluminum was in high demand during the war. Only 600 blades of this type were made, so not many out there I guess.

[USdog]

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[USdog]

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[USdog]

...This is it after sanding and repair

[USdog]

Erco propeller on a BT-13

[MWalsh]

Looks great! That's a nice item to have in a collection, I didn't personally know that the BTs ever used wooden props.

 

Thanks for posting on it.

[USdog]

Looks great! That's a nice item to have in a collection, I didn't personally know that the BTs ever used wooden props.

 

Thanks for posting on it.

Thanks! Really appreciate the feedback on it. I had no idea that some trainer planes used wooden prop blades until now. When I bought it at the flea market I thought it was just a prop blade from the 30's so this turned out great for me, being from a WWII aircraft.

[phantomfixer]

awesome resto////that wood grain really pops! nice job

[USdog]

Thanks!