Do you need a unique gift for someone in your life that loves aviation? Or the person that has everything and you can never surprise them? How about an aviation themed bar or restaurant in need of some unique wall decoration? I think you’ll agree, this would fill the void and bring a smile to their face. I mean, who doesn’t want a spinning propeller on their wall to show off their love for flying?

This project was born out of a request from a customer. I sell other aviation themed items in my store such as desk clocks that look like aircraft instruments which is what caught their attention. But then they asked, what else can you produce to help decorate an Aviation themed bar at a baseball park? Well, after a bit of back and forth I offered up a few wooden propellers as options and he replied with “It would be way more cool if the were spinning.” I agreed and after a few weeks I had the project completed for him and now offer these for sale in my store.

I tend to over-engineer things that I build by adding extra features to make them a bit more special. This project was no different and I think I accomplished all of the features that I set out to develop. Given that these are for display and may be in public locations, they need to look good, require no maintenance and be safe. As you can see from the photos, the props look great, so that part is covered. I buy the props from a 3rd party and they look great out-of-the-box. Currently they are available in 27.5″ and 48″ widths so they can accommodate various spaces with ease. To ensure reliability, safety and control I developed a PCB for a microcontroller, driver and WIFI interface for control.

• Left & middle are 27.5″ prop, right photo is 48″ prop. Sorry for the unfinished wall!

Once you receive your unit, setup only takes 10 minutes and you’ll be ready to show off your new display. The unit consists of the backplate, the cowl, the prop and the power supply. The backplate has two holes so you can mount it to your wall; ideally to a stud. Then, plug in the power wire to the PCB and attach the cowl with the two provided screws. Next, you attach the propeller which varies depending on which one you purchased. Finally, plug in the power and watch the prop come to life!

With safety in mind, you’ll notice the prop starts out very slowly and spins at only a few RPM’s. The speed is intentional to ensure safety if anyone or anything were to come into contact with the prop. The motor has a low torque and will stall if anything interferes with the propeller while spinning. Once the interference is removed, the prop will continue to spin again.

At this point you may be asking yourself how WIFI comes into play? Using your phone or laptop, you can connect to the on-board WIFI and control the speed of the propeller. Using your web browser you can control the speed, start and stop the prop. And since access is password controlled, you won’t have to worry about others making changes to your display model.

Please check out the store to purchase one for your favorite space, or send me a message if you have any questions.