An early predominant manufacturer in the United States, Spencer Heath's American Propeller and Manufacturing Company opened in Baltimore in 1909. Heath was first to use machines for mass production of aircraft propellers and, under the Paragon trademark, these were widely used in World War I. Like most propellers of that era, construction was a wood laminate because of light weight, strength, fabrication ease, and resistance to fatigue in a vibrating and flexing environment.

Heath demonstrated the first "engine-powered, engine-controlled, variable and reversible pitch propeller" in 1919, but was unsuccessful in convincing the Army of the practicality of the concept. He sold the company to the Bendix Corporation in 1929 and retired from aeronautics two years later.

This propeller is from the Benoist Flying Boat, which became the world's first airliner, flying between St.Petersburg and Tampa, Florida in 1914-15.

 Display Status

This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.
Object Details
Date Circa 1914 Country of Origin United States of America Type PROPULSION-Propellers & Impellers Manufacturer American Propeller and Manufacturing Company
 Physical Description Type: Two-Blade, Fixed-Pitch, Wood Diameter: 274.3 cm (108 in.) Chord: 20.3 cm (8 in.) Engine Application: Unknown Dimensions Rotor/Propeller: 274.3 x 20.3 x 19.7 x 11.4 x 7.6cm (108 x 8 x 7 3/4 x 4 1/2 x 3 in.)
3-D: 273.7 x 21 x 10.8cm (107 3/4 x 8 1/4 x 4 1/4 in.)
 Materials Wood
Varnish
Copper Alloy
Steel
Paint
 Inventory Number A19610167000 Credit Line Gift of Reinhardt Ausmus Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
For more information, visit the Smithsonians Terms of Use.