garudapropeller

Propeller of Sikorsky Plane (LOC)

from The Library of Congress

• 1 older comment, and then…
• aware health said:

  The propeller says "Garuda," which was a manufacturer in Berlin: www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1913/1913%20-%200252... Outsourcing, I guess.

• swanq said:

  NYT of April 5, 1914 commented on the size of Sikorsky's plane query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9402E1DB163AE633A... "GIGANTIC AEROPLANE CARRIED 16 PERSONS SUCCESSFULLY; Sikorsky's Huge Machine, with Cabins, Observation Gallery, &c., Makes Record-Breaking Flights in St. Petersburg."

• Wystan said:

  Igor Sikorsky (1889-1972) came to America in 1919, and became a U. S. citizen in 1928. Wikipedia on Igor Sikorsky: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igor_Sikorsky

• technogeo said:

  This HAS to be a joke! The photographer is playing with perspective. If the distance between each pair of men is about 6 feet, the propeller would be around 36 feet long. Sikorsky's giant Ilya Muromets bombers had large propellers, but they appear to be about 10 feet in diameter in most archival photos. There's definitely something funny going on here. Look closely at how the giant propeller is sitting on the sawhorses.

• aware health said:

  Agree with techno -- notice the four guys on the far end are standing on an inclined plane, which is monkeying with the perspective. Also the propeller itself has a weird outline, as if cut and pasted onto the photograph. On the other hand, the Germans built a plane with a 23-ft Garuda propeller ( www.markslists.net/history/germangiants/index.html ) . If the guy on the near end is about 6-ft tall, this propeller might go 23 ft.