My gran's just given me some bookends she said her dad made from a WW2 propeller. He was a mechanic for the RAF.

Seems as though it was a two blade propeller. He was a carpenter and cabinet maker too, so he took the centre section (pivot?axle?) and made a clock with the middle of the blades as supports. somehow? – details were hazy! That was with my mum's cousin, possibly now in a museum somewhere.

My brother's got the blade tips, which were made into picture frames and I've got the bookends made from a section near the base.

Anyone know what these (inspection?) stamps mean? Looks like the top 2 say AAD 75, the bottom two AID 75. Do they give any clue as to what plane they might have come off?

The reason I'm asking here is because of the ridiculous number of replies the warplane posts got! Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

Cheers!

I can't help, but I bet they can here !

http://woodenpropeller.com/forumvB/

carved timber 2 blade props would more likely be WWI if that's any help

Maybe this is what the AAD stands for….?

Aye, looks a little more WWI than WWII, but still a lovely thing to own! Will watch this thread with interest!

At the risk of branding myself forever a 'spotter'… at the very start of WWII the Huricane was fitted with a twin-prop wooden propellor, these were swiftly changed to the three-prop more usually seen… Not sure how much help that is but, likewise, I'll watch this thread with interest.

You could try the museum at RAF Cosford or any others you can think off.

There were plenty of wooden prop'd aircraft flying at the beginning of the war. Off the top of my head, Gladiators, tiger moths (lots of trainers for that matter), lots of De Havilland stuff (Dragons and the like), few early bombers, Hampdens etc (Blenheims I think).

It would help if we had more info about your grand-dad, where he served etc

Both Spits and Hurries had two-bladed props on early marques. It could have come from any number of prop-driven planes tho', like an Auster, or an Anson.

Brilliant. Thanks all for your help and ideas.

Can't believe there's a wooden propellers forum! Well, I can, but it seems a bit too good to be true! Having trouble logging on, possibly because I'm being stupid.

I'll plug gran for more details, and I'll post when I've made progress.

Ta!