Propellers

[WJFM]

I recently moved the forward half of an AT-11 to a guy in Yuba City Cal. During our talks as is usual when two old farts get together I told him I had been on C-130’s in the mid 70’s where upon he said he had something I might be interested in. He had just bought out a large inventory of AT-6 parts and when he was clearing out the warehouse the owner said everything goes. In the back of the warehouse was a 11’ long crate the he told my friend was a prop from a C-130. So my friend said he had no use for it and if I wanted it to get it out of his building. We settled on a fair price and I proceeded to try to move the crate. After emergency hernia surgery, I took the crate apart and loaded the blades and the box containing the hub in my truck and small trailer. When I opened the crate there were only three blades in the crate. I knew that the C-130A originally had three bladed props, and thought they were Curtiss Electric. Now I have been told that they might not have been Curtiss but something else. When I got home and unloaded the prop I open the crate and found the shipping document and found out the prop was a Curtiss Electric but it was removed from a C-124C in 1972.

My question is does anybody remember what prop the A model had and is there any possibility that this prop might have been used on the A model also.

Thanks for any information

[RavenFE]

The 3 blade prop on the production 'A' models was an Aeroproducts propeller.

[bobdaley]

I had a note on it here somewhere but again old timers.

The two prototypes 1001 and 1002 and some of the production A's came with Curtis Electric props I know that 3006 was the first to test an Aeroproducts prop. Then all were retrofitted to Aeroproducts.

I found it in Joe Dabney's book. After the 10th Production aircraft was delivered to the AF, the AF ordered a switch to Aeroproducts. But Lockheed had already completed, both delivered and not delivered, 49 production A's with Curtis props, they were all retro fitted. Coincidentally 3050 55-0023 the Spirit of Ardmore, which was the first A delivered to a TAC unit, was the first to be built with the Aeroproducts part. 55-0023 is on display at Linear Airpark Dyess AFB TX.

[WJFM]

Great info. Would have been great if this Curtiss Electric was also used on the A model but you can't win them all. Thanks again.

Bill

[Wombat]

I had a discussion some years ago with a retired Ham STd engineer who was on the propellor design team and he was teling me the Curtiss Electrics used solenoids to control pitch changes which then caused either too much or not enough pitch when they shifted. This was causing the aircraft to wander around somewhat. The AeroProducts was purely hydraulic and therefore more precise when changing pitch. He also said that Ham Std went to the wall to get the prop contract for the B model and had they lost the contest, they would have folded and the Herc would have been running the 4 bladed AreoProducts similar to the Electra prop. Lockheed tested 4 different prop configurations before settling on the Ham Std now in use.