Before perfection of the propeller variable-pitch mechanism could be fully addressed, an intermediate step was required, the search for new materials and construction methods to facilitate changing blade angle. The Army promoted development of Westinghouse's micarta insulation product into an alternative to both wood and metal. A micarta propeller consisted of the phenolic resin Bakelite, one of the earliest synthetic plastics, and canvas cloth molded into shape under high pressure.
Westinghouse designed a micarta propeller for the Army's workhorse Liberty V-12 engine in 1918, and DH-4 aircraft flew with one-piece, fixed-pitch micarta propellers into the mid-1920s. This artifact is similar to the micarta propeller used in 1927 with an Atlantic-Fokker C-2 aircraft on the first flight from the U.S. to Hawaii. Despite an early promise, both fixed-pitch and detachable-blade micarta propellers were proportionally heavier and more expensive than wood counterparts, and not as durable as aluminum alloy propellers. Westinghouse discontinued production in the early 1930s.
This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.