Bastow-Page Ground-Adjustable-Pitch Airship Propeller
date: label: Date
content: 1910
name: label: Manufacturer
content: Stuart Bastow
label: Designer
content: Victor W. Page
notes: label: Physical Description
content: Type: Two-Blade, Adjustable-Pitch, Metal
label: Physical Description
content: Diameter: 195.6 cm (77 in.)
label: Physical Description
content: Chord: 31.1 cm (12.25 in.)
label: Physical Description
content: Engine Application: Curtiss A-2, two-cylinder, 6 kw (8 hp)
label: Summary
content: This first metal and ground-adjustable-pitch propeller was designed and built by Stuart Bastow, an electrical sign contractor, and Victor Pagé, a mechanical engineer, for the dirigible Rhode Island in 1910. Bastow bought a bamboo and fabric propeller and the propulsion system from Capt. Thomas Scott Baldwin's California Arrow. Pagé, unsatisfied, suggested constructing a propeller from aluminum, then a relatively new, but proven material, because of its light weight and strength.
label: Summary
content: The aluminum blades were riveted to steel tubing connected through a threaded joint to a central aluminum hub, and retained an aerodynamic shape while the steel tubing provided the required strength to offset centrifugal force. Not knowing which pitch setting would be best for the dirigible, except through trial-and-error, they designed the propeller to be adjustable on the ground; resulting in the earliest American attempt at multipiece construction that facilitated deliberate pitch variation. This propeller emerged unscathed during several forced landings, which indicated its inherent performance and durability benefits.
place: label: Country of Origin
content: United States of America
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Air and Space Museum Collection
label: Location
content: National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
label: Exhibition
content: Early Flight
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Stuart Bastow, Pawtucket, Rhode Island
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Air and Space Museum
identifier: label: Inventory Number
content: A19420042000
objectType: label: Type
content: PROPULSION-Propellers & Impellers
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Materials
content: Blades: Aluminum
label: Materials
content: Hub and Blade Supports: Steel
label: Dimensions
content: Rotor/Propeller: 195.6 x 31.1 x 4.1 x 2.5cm (77 x 12 1/4 x 1 5/8 x 1 in.)