The Wright Brothers created the world's first practical, efficient, and purpose-built aerial propellers, and a design theory to support them. A specialized sub-industry emerged in Europe and the United States based upon their basic design. Experimental work in England, France, Germany, Italy and Russia led to criteria that engineers used to design propellers with better performance and structural reliability.
One of them was Frenchman Lucien Chauviére's Integrale, the world's first propeller manufacturer, who used alternating layers of maple and birch according to the de Grandeville system of laminated propeller construction. These products became the standard of excellence in the nascent aviation industry. Chauviére constructed the propeller on Louis Blériot's channel-crossing monoplane in 1909, and pioneered the conventional scimitar form of the wood propeller. In the United States, the Requa Gibson Company of New York City became the first American propeller manufacturer in 1909 by crafting copies of Chauviére designs.
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
Country of Origin
France
Type
PROPULSION-Propellers & Impellers
Manufacturer
Integrale (Chauviére) France
Physical Description
Type: Two-Blade, Fixed-Pitch, Wood
Engine Application: Le Rhone Model C Rotary, 60 kw (80 hp)
Dimensions
3-D (Propeller): 250.8 × 27.9 × 10.2cm, 8.6kg (8 ft. 2 3/4 in. × 11 in. × 4 in., 19lb.)
Materials
Wood, Varnish
Inventory Number
A19810689000
Credit Line
Gift of Fred S. Rothfuss
Data Source
National Air and Space Museum
Restrictions & Rights
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