Lang Propellers was a leading British manufacturer of the World War I period. Arthur Dashwood Lang took out a patent in 1909 for “an improved formation of the blades of propellers for use on airships and aircraft where greater efficiency is secured.” The curvature of blades having a “convex side and a flat side” was described in the patent application. In 1913, the organization known as Lang Garnett & Co. Ltd was established, but became Lang Propeller Ltd within a few months. In 1917 Lang was bought out by the well-known aircraft builder Sopwith, for which it was a principal supplier.
When the United States entered World War I, the Navy needed propellers and funded the founding of the Lang Propeller Company of America.
This artifact is believed to be two blades of a Lang four-bladed propeller from the Italian dirigible Roma, which crashed at Langley Field, Virginia in February 1922.
This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.
United States of America
PROPULSION-Propellers & Impellers
Lang Products Co.
Type: Two-Blade, Fixed-Pitch, Wood
Diameter: 132 cm (52 in.)
Chord: 25 cm (9.75 in.)
Engine Application: Liberty, 400 hp
Rotor/Propeller: 132.1 x 24.8 x 33.7 x 10.2 cm (52 x 9 3/4 x 13 1/4 in. x 4 in.))
Wood
Varnish
Copper Alloy
A19320008000
Gift of S. Langhorne Browne
National Air and Space Museum
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