Sopwith Camel – Wooden propeller

It’s a reproduction of the original Lang propeller manufactured in 1916 for 130hp Clerget 9B 9-cylinder radial rotary engine.

Authentic material: mahogany
Length: 250cm / 98inch
Original manufacturer: Lang propeller, Great Britain, 1916-1917
Our production: Since 2012, measurements taken from the original prop

Authentic mahogany propellers and beech wood propellers with mahogany stain

If you’re looking for the authentic propeller from Sopwith Camel, mahogany is the right choice. If you are looking for a more affordable variant, then I will offer you the same propeller made of ash or beech, which I will stain in any shade, even with mahogany. Patina looks well on stained propellers.

Two-colored propellers and their variants

All of our propellers are glued from layers as it was at the original propellers. If I choose various types of timber, the right combination of the layers will result in two-colored effect. This technique was widely used mainly by German and Austrian propeller manufacturers, however, I have seen an old photo of Sopwith Pup with this propeller as well. Therefore, I decided to offer this variant for all British and French propellers too.

If you choose this option, I will usually select two contrasting kinds of timber that I have in stock. If you have a special request, please note it down in your order.

Two-colored 125cm long wooden decorative Sopwith and Curtiss Jenny propellers

Blade sheathing – originally used as a protection of the leading edges.

Based on old photos there were two types of sheathing.

Fabric sheathing

I use aircraft-grade linen fabric. The fabric is glued on the blade using a sticky varnish and painted with black acrylic color. The colored fabric is then varnished with the whole propeller. This process was common also 100 years ago, I only use modern materials, except for the fabric – it’s the authentic material.

Brass sheathing

It is quite rare to see this propeller with brass fittings. However, as you can see in the picture below, this type is no exception.
We are one of the few manufacturers of brass sheathing. We produce them on the basis of historical resources from a 0.6mm thick brass sheet.

You can read more about the sheathing HERE in the section “How to choose a wooden propeller”.