Curtiss Ely Propeller, fixed-pitch, two-blade, wood and metal
date: label: Date
content: 1911
name: label: Manufacturer
content: Curtiss Aeroplane Company
notes: label: Physical Description
content: Type: Two-Blade, Fixed-Pitch, Wood
label: Physical Description
content: Diameter: 182.9 cm (72 in.)
label: Physical Description
content: Chord: 18.3 cm (7.188 in.)
label: Physical Description
content: Engine Application: Curtiss E-4 V8, 45 kw (60 hp)
label: Summary
content: This propeller is from Eugene Ely's Curtiss Model D pusher biplane that he flew as part of the U.S. Navy's early investigations into the military uses of aviation. On November 14, 1910, Ely made the first take-off from a ship, the cruiser USS Birmingham, in Hampton Roads, Virginia. Three months later, Ely made the first landing on a ship, the battleship USS Pennsylvania in San Francisco Bay, on January 18, 1911, while using the first ever tailhook system. Ely died later on October 19, 1911, after crashing during an exhibition flight in Macon, Georgia.
label: Summary
content: At the time of the propeller's donation in 1931, Ely's father, Col. Nathan Dana Ely, described it as being from the Hampton Roads take-off flight and in the condition as received from his son. Ely's Model D came so close to the water that the propeller tips hit the crest of a wave causing them to splinter, which can be seen today. Subsequent information from a family acquaintance interviewing Ely's wife in the late 1950s suggested that the Hampton Roads propeller was kept by a benefactor and that the propeller held by the Smithsonian was likely from the San Francisco landing flight.
place: label: Country of Origin
content: United States of America
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Air and Space Museum Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Col. Nathan Dana Ely (USA, Ret.)
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Air and Space Museum
identifier: label: Inventory Number
content: A19320005000
objectType: label: Type
content: PROPULSION-Propellers & Impellers
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Materials
content: Overall: Wood and Metal
label: Materials
content: Propeller: Wood
label: Materials
content: Hub: Metal
label: Dimensions
content: Rotor/Propeller: 182.9 x 18.3 x 9.2 x 7.3 x 0.8 x 2.9cm (72 x 7 3/16 x 3 5/8 x 2 7/8 x 5/16 x 1 1/8 in.)