ORIGINAL: UStik
Well, I'm sitting here with my flu and guess what? A package arrives after flying over the pond. It took it's time because it's from about 1960 and driven by propellers. As it should be, it has four propellers and even one smaller as a backup. In the moment I'm feeling much better. Duane, you've made my weekend and even more, thank you very much!
You're welcome Burkhard. Now that everyone has their packaged "surprise", I can tell you a little more. During my discussions with Chuck, he told me Ed had kept a number of original props. He even suggested that the primary contributors to this thread might like to receive one of Ed's props as a little souvenir of the experience...I thought that was a great idea.
As time went by, it became obvious that Chuck had become swamped in his auction business, so I wrote Chuck, bugging him about the props....a couple times. Finally he decided it might be in his best interest to simply sell me ALL of Ed's props, (37 I think), and I would be the one to send out the souvenirs.
Upon receiving them it was intersting to see some of Ed's characteristics, (mannerisms). He would hand-write the pitch of the prop on the hub, as many of the props either didn't have this info, (or he had removed it while balancing the props, and revarnishing them). Several of the the props were "specialized", meaning he took a larger prop, (12" ), and cut them down, while sanding them to a finished look.
Of the 37 props, soem were used and others brand new. I don't know which is more valuable, since a used prop of Ed's is something in itself. It's also interesting that 8 or 9 of the 37 props were cracked, (not broken off). I don't know what this shows about Ed, (I throw my cracked props away, but nowadays I use APC props...they shear off and don't break), except he may have thrown them all in one place and forgot about them. I'm sure he was not thinking about us and our souvenir props at the time. Since I had these 9 cracked props on my hands, why not "share the joy", so each person also received a cracked Kazmirski prop.
Props were of several sizes from 10X6 to 12X8. I was surprised at the number of 12" props considering the engines of the time. A 12" prop was a lot for an older .60 to swing. The most common size was 12X6, 12X6.5, and 12X7, but there were an appreciable number of 11 and 12X4. This shows Ed was like many of us ..constantly experimenting with props to get the right combination. It's interesting that the 12X4 props show he is trying to improve vertical in maneuvers, while slowing the speed in straight flight.
Guys, enjoy your props.
Duane
Interestingly, of the 37 props, about 8-9 of them