Rotor/Propeller: 228.6 x19.1 x 56.5 x 16.8 x 1.4 x 7.9 cm (90 x 7 1/2 x 22 1/4 x 6 5/8 x 9/16 x 3.1 in.)
Type:
PROPULSION-Propellers & Impellers
Country of Origin:
United States of America
Physical Description:
Type: Two-Blade, Fixed-Pitch, Wood
Diameter: 228.6 cm (90 in.)
Chord: 19.1 cm (7.5 in.)
Engine Application: Unknown
Summary:
When Orville Wright moved to Oakwood, Ohio in 1914, he became acquainted with his neighbor, George Hartzell. George's son, Robert, had a strong interest in aviation and was encouraged by Orville to begin making propellers at his father's walnut wood products business. Robert left the University of Cincinnati in 1917 to begin the propeller venture. The United States had just entered World War I and the war effort created an instant and almost unmanageable demand for Hartzell Walnut Propellers. Hartzell supplied propellers to nearby Dayton-Wright Airplane Company, as well as Glen Curtiss' company and other early aviation pioneers.
This is one of a number of old propellers chosen by the museum's earliest curator, Paul Garber, from a collection at the Langley Field installation of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics in 1931.
Credit Line:
Gift of National Advisory Committee of Aeronautics, Langley Field, Hampton, VA.
