Hanover propeller info Sought

Scottie · 2 February 2004, 08:00 AM

Hello all,

http://aerodrome0.tripod.com/blade.jpg
I have recently acquired the tip from a propeller of what I believe is a Hanover CL4 aircraft, from Bob Gardner of Aeroclocks.com

Bob acquired it from a Frenchman who claimed that it had come from an Albatros shot down during 1914. Trouble is the markings on the blade would seem to indicate that it has come from a Hanover CL4.
The French owner then changed his story to state that it had come from an aircraft shot down over Belgium sometime in 1917.

I have attached images of the prop blade in the hope that someone can decode all of the markings for me. I believe that the Hanover CL4 was a very rare bird, with only a handfull making their way to the Western front.

If this is the case would it be an easier matter to determine what aircraft this came from if it was in fact shot down?

Hope that someone can see this and help me establish the true history of this artifact.

Thanks in advance

Scottie

Cigogne · 2 February 2004, 02:04 PM

The stenciling on the propeller reveals the following:

Manufacturer:

Germania Propeller

Company location is:

Göppingen

The D.3 A designation refers to engine type which would have been:

Mercedes D.IIIa 180 h.p.

Cigogne · 2 February 2004, 02:07 PM

Don't know what S.F.W. means, but would be part of the factory name... or is it S.P.W.?

Company name would have read Germania Propeller S.F.W or S.P.W.

Neither do I know what M 48 G refers to.

Cigogne · 2 February 2004, 02:14 PM

The Han C.L.4 would seem to indicate Hannover CL.IV, BUT I don't believe the CL.IV was a type that reached production stage. The Hannover CL.II and IIIa were the main production types. Perhaps there was a CL.IV prototype, but I've never come across the CL.IV in any photos in squadron use, nor have I seen a prototype photo of one. The Hannover CL.V was the next production type that entered production.

The CL.IV type that comes to mind most is the Halberstadt CL.IV, which would have had the 180 Mercedes D.IIIa engine. Did Hannover build the Halberstadt CL.IV under license? I know that Halberstadt CL aircraft were built under license by other companies, such as Roland. Did Hannover undertake building the Halb. CL.IV under license? Others probably can answer this.

Seems to be a little mystery about this, but it is a good start.

Dan_San_Abbott · 2 February 2004, 04:13 PM

Scottie:
The Hannover CL.IV was powered with the 245 PS Maybach MbIV engine. The D.IIIa is a 170 Ps Mercedes engine. The only Hannover type to use the Mercedes D.IIIa engine was the Han.CL.III machine of which 80 were completed.
Because of the critical shortage of the Mercedes D.IIIa, D.IIIaü and the D.IIIaüv engines, the production was stopped at the 80th Cl.III and the order completed as the Han.Cl.IIIa with the 180 Ps Argus As.III(O) engine built by the Opel Werke.
The only possibility that I can think of is Hannover Waggonfabrik experimented with the Mercedes D.IIIa engine in one of the Han.Cl.IV machines, and this would explain this propeller.
Blue skies,
Dan-San

Cigogne · 4 February 2004, 06:43 AM

Dan-San,

How many Hannover CL.IVs were built? I've never seen one in any operational photos, only the CL.II and III/IIIa, and CL.V. How did it differ? Was it a low production run aircraft that didn't get production orders other than the a pre-production few?

Thanks!

rc.gardner · 4 February 2004, 01:24 PM

Dear Cigogne,

SPW stands for SuddeutschePropellerWerken which was located in Goppingen.

Regards,

Bob

Cigogne · 4 February 2004, 03:50 PM

So "Germania" was the brand name then for S.P.W.?

There are a lot of really neat propeller logos out there from these companies!

dbahn · 5 February 2004, 04:11 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Cigogne@Feb 4 2004, 11:50 PM
[b]

There are a lot of really neat propeller logos out there from these companies!

http://www.woodenpropeller.com/Decals.html More "on the way."

Cigogne · 5 February 2004, 03:50 PM

Now, about the Hannover CL.IV... can anybody show me what it looks like? I've got a decent sized library, but nothing I have shows anything about this type.

Thanks!