New Wood Propellers Closer to Originals

New wood propellers resembling pre-1940 originals have been in the market for some time. Until now, all the new pieces have been made from a single piece of solid wood. Original wood propellers were almost always laminated from many pieces and layers of wood, not one single solid piece.

The new propeller shown here, though, is made of laminated wood pieces like the originals. The clue to this new piece is its size. It is only 47 inches long, about half the size of original wood propellers. As a general rule of thumb, all wood propellers under five feet in length are modern whether they are one piece or laminated.

The new laminated propellers are around $100. They are fine as decorative pieces, but don't confuse them with vintage aviation collectibles.