Mounting a prop on a wall

Katamarino

Katamarino

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Katamarino
I have a Cessna 172 propeller (with curled tips, not my doing) that I'd like to mount on my office drywall. Does anyone have any ideas or examples of good ways to do this? Right now the best idea I had was some kind of hooks, similar to those that one would use to hang ladders, but less industrial looking.

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Problem solved, we can close the thread.
 
I put one up in my garage with lag screws.
 
You want something that's stout and is screwed into wall studs. Forget the drywall holding it. That sort of faith has destroyed a lot of expensive stuff like TVs. Besides that, a falling prop could be lethal.

A 6" x 6" piece of 1/4" steel or aluminum plate, drilled for a couple of 1/4" x 2-1/2" lag screws and all six prop bolts would work. Only two of the prop bolts would be needed, but six makes it cosmetically nicer. Ordinary hardware-store stuff is good enough.

But that's just me. I work with steel and aluminum all the time. I know that a lot of people don't have the tools, maybe don't know anyone who does. What a change from the 1950s and '60s.
 
I like Dan's idea ... get into some studs for security. You could find an old bulkhead and spinner and bolt the bulkhead to the studs and the prop and spinner to it. Or just put everything from the nose bowl forward on the wall:

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Daleandee said:
I like Dan's idea ... get into some studs for security. You could find an old bulkhead and spinner and bolt the bulkhead to the studs and the prop and spinner to it.
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The bulkhead is far too light for that. It's designed as part of the structure to hold a <one-pound spinner, not a 25-pound prop.

Edit: a 1C160/7553 McCauley prop, used on thousands of 172s with O-320s, weighs 35.5 pounds.
 
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“A nail will hold a man”…get at least one screw into a stud, and the rest is just keeping it straight.
 
I needed a lectern for my Aircraft Systems class. I had a runout 172 prop, blade widths below minimum width or thickness in a couple of places, and so I used a big vise on a heavy bench and a couple of blocks of wood, and curled both tips through about 120°. Welded up and painted steel bracketry to mount it to a base at the bottom and to hold a sloped desk at the top. Painted the prop white with yellow (IIRC) tips and drilled the blades for the brackets. Wish now that I had taken a picture of it.

In Africa I encountered a desk in a mechanic's office that used one prop blade as a desk leg. The prop penetrated the desk top and curled over. I don't know how he did that without wrecking the wood, since it was such a nice close fit through the thick plywood top. Maybe he cut the blade and inserted it partway into the bottom and inserted the top into the top to meet it, with epoxy to hold it all?
 
This what I did for a rather large, wood prop I had on my office wall.D1D472D2-CB2C-4B76-AE13-AC00C0616AF5.jpeg

5/8” ply disk with dowels inserted at the bolt holes. Varying lengths made slipping the prop onto the disk which is mounted on the wall IN A STUD with a lag screw. You could use a couple screws if it makes you feel more confident.

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Club that was mounted to it. Oak, and as you can see pretty big. Weighs a ton.

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As it was mounted to the wall in my waiting room.
 
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Dan Thomas said:
The bulkhead is far too light for that. It's designed as part of the structure to hold a <one-pound spinner, not a 25-pound prop.

Edit: a 1C160/7553 McCauley prop, used on thousands of 172s with O-320s, weighs 35.5 pounds.
Click to expand...

Good point. I meant that the bolts holding the bulkhead would also hold the prop but I didn't say it that way ... :frown2:
 
Daleandee said:
Good point. I meant that the bolts holding the bulkhead would also hold the prop but I didn't say it that way ... :frown2:
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There are two bulkheads. One, the aft one, fits between the prop and the prop spacer. The forward one fits under the bolt heads. The bolts go though the whole assembly, including the spacer and flywheel, and into the nuts pressed into the crank flange. Those bulkheads are made of a softer aluminum that is often found deformed under the bolt heads and washers.

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Dan Thomas said:
There are two bulkheads. One, the aft one, fits between the prop and the prop spacer. The forward one fits under the bolt heads. The bolts go though the whole assembly, including the spacer and flywheel, and into the nuts pressed into the crank flange. Those bulkheads are made of a softer aluminum that is often found deformed under the bolt heads and washers.

View attachment 104547
Click to expand...

I'm sure I wouldn't use most of those parts for wall mounting. Certainly not the flywheel ... :D
 
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