The Durand-Lesley Propeller Collection

Fifty of the propellers are currently on permanent display in the Terman Engineering Library in the Huang Engineering Center. Others were sent to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C

The hand carved Durand-Lesley propellers in the Stanford Engineering Terman Library at the Huang Engineering Center are the surviving artifacts of a famous experiment in early aviation history which defined a process method in engineering research still in use today.

The work created a comprehensive methodology that was widely used by engineers but little studied by historians, until Walter G. Vincenti wrote about it as a case study in his book, “What Engineers Know and How They Know It: Analytical Studies from Aeronautical History” (1993).

The studies at Stanford systematically altered parameters that defined the shape of propeller blades, and two others - the speed of the airstream and the speed of propeller rotation, to determine the best performance of various propeller shapes.

The history of aeronautics at Stanford began long before the actual founding of the Aeronautics Department and is almost as old as the university itself. It all started with the appointment of William F. Durand in 1904 to the chairmanship of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, only a year after the first flight of Wilbur and Orville Wright.

A pioneer in the fields of aeronautics, naval propulsion, and engineering research methods, William Durand remains one of the most revered names at Stanford more than a century after he joined the faculty in 1904. A picket-fence display of his hand-carved wooden propeller designs, each a unique specimen, graces the wall of the Terman Library at the Huang Engineering Center.

While at Cornell University, Durand's research concerned boat design. He published the classic text Resistance and Propulsion of Ships in 1898. When he came to Stanford he began to study the then-nascent field of aviation. Working with Professor E.P. Lesley, Durand built one of the first wind tunnels and embarked on a rigorous study of propeller design that provided airplane makers with the means to choose the best propeller for their airframe designs. The study was notable for its results, and for bringing a more scientific approach to engineering research.

In the early 1930s, Durand edited the six-volume series, Aerodynamic Theory, a major reference in the field. Durand also shared his scholarship through public service, both as chairman of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics - a precursor of NASA - and during World War II, as a leader of a program to advance the development of jet engines.

His first professional assignment upon graduation from Annapolis was as engineering officer on the U.S.S. Tennessee, a full-rigged wooden ship with auxiliary steam power.

http://lib.stanford.edu/lotf/readings?page=0%2C450  and http://engineering.stanford.edu/2010-stanford-engineering-heroes