Plastic Props:

[hoggsnortrupert]

Could someone please tell me when COMPOSITE props first came about, and the history behind them:

Reason: Cleaning out the basement, I came across Pierre Clostermans "The Big Show" and he makes mention of one of the prangs and the PLASTIC PROP SPLINTERING!(1944).

Chr's
H/Snort.

[stevef]

He was probably talking about Jablo propeller blades, which were constructed from compressed birch blocks and Rotoloid (a thick cellulose nitrate covering).

[Nonni777]

Hamilton Standard certified its first composite propeller in 1992, it was used on the ATR 72-210.

[hoggsnortrupert]

Classic Aviation Ads Series: Contractors Jablo 1939 (http://aviationancestry.com/Engineering/Contractors/Contractors-Jablo-1939-1.html)

Also:Classic Aviation Ads Series: Propellers Jablo 1945 (http://aviationancestry.com/Components/Propellers/Propellers-Jablo-1945-1.html)

Thanks Steve: I did a search on google under JABLO, and came up with some fasinating info: Re- the address above.

LAMINATED PLASTIC PROPS in 1943 as fitted to the SPITFIRE, and a bunch of others.

Be interested to look into it more, and see what manufacturing process they used.

I am impressed.


Chr's.

H/Snort.:ok:

[bcgallacher]

I thought everybody had forgotten Jablo - it was used on carrier aircraft as touching the blade tips on the steel deck did not wreck the engine. My father made a couple of bookends from the stuff and it was very dense and could be worked like metal - it looked like plywood but with thin laminates as it was compressed to 1/2 its original thickness. I read Clostermanns book at about 8 years of age and that started my enthusiasm for all things that fly - I have held maintenance engineers now for 44 years.

[SNS3Guppy]

Ham Standard had composite blades long before the ATR-72. In fact, we had composite blades on the P2V Neptune...also Hamilton Standard propellers. These weren't plastic, but a honeycomb matrix, We also had standard aluminum Ham Standard props on the same aircraft. In fact, the blades were interchangable on the same hub so long as they were used in pairs opposite each other (same type opposite).

If you really want to talk composite, meaning the combination of two or more materials, then propellers going back to the very earliest designs were composite with wood and metal, and sometimes coated with linen, too. Other coatings and materials have been used for some time...composite propellers are nearly as old as propeller design itself.

[N1 Vibes]

Sorry to drift slightly. Is this jablo related to the jabrock wooden composite baords used under F1/sports cars, to restrict ride height/ground effect cars these days? /google didn't help much..

Regards,

N1 Vibes

[Connaught]

Ham Std had composite props on the Dash 7 that goes back to when early'70's late 60's??? before my time anyways

they are used mostly because there is no fatigue in composites and theortically last forever - however they don't

also lots lighter