RAF Aircraft Propeller Tip

Small but beautifully formed! Painted in the classic wartime colours of RAF aircraft of matt black with a yellow tip this example has clearly been cut from a damaged propeller and taken as a souvenir. Sadly the provenance associated with it has been lost down the years but seems highly likely to date back to WWII. The prop was constructed from layers of wood, glued together, while being compressed to about half their original thickness, before being shaped. Some had the wood encased in a sheath of fine mesh, and all had their leading edges covered by a thin sheath of brass. The whole lot was then covered in a semi-matt black plastic, by makers Rayoid, Rotaloid, or Schwartz. This example is of modest size measuring 7.25" x 6" (19 cm x 15 cm) and would sit comfortably in an RAF associated collection…and significantly cheaper to buy and post than the non-truncated examples we see from time to time!