Original British WWI Royal Air Force Propeller Clamp – War Department Marked – Circa 1918 Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. We have never seen one of these before and frankly never expect to again. This takes one way back to the birth of flying, the time of bi-planes and wooden propellers. In fact to the close of World War One. On April 1st 1918, the ROYAL FLYING CORPS became the ROYAL AIR FORCE. A new fresh era had opened, but it took 20 years, all through the 1920’s and 1930’s for the Science of flying to be developed just before WWII.

Those barn storming years of Country Fairs and Ariel Dare Devils, they ALL FLEW the old bi-planes with laminated wooden Propellers.

Here we have an ORIGINAL set of Carpenter’s screw clamps for laminating the multi-layer wood propellers in place. Officially marked:-

R.A.F. W.(Broad Arrow) D.
PROPS
W. Dept.

“Props” would indicate use in the Propeller Department, and the other markings show that these were official R.A.F. property, approved by the British War Department. The wooden jaws measure 16 inches long, and are attached by 17 inch long threaded steel rods with wooden handles. These would be able to clamp quite a large amount of wood together, and many would be used for each propeller blank, which was then carved.

They had them and they used them, but like everything else they became obsoleted and were lost to history only to show up in an English Farm Sales. So there you have, a straight forward Carpenters clamping devise, but used by the Royal Air Force for the construction of the early laminated wood propellers.

Out of the barn, fully cleaned and ready to Display. Circa 1918.