What type of wood is typically used for airplane propellers?

Mahogany and walnut were used in early wooden plane propellers, by virtue of their relative malleability, reasonable strength and even grain patterns. Later propellers made by the ubiquitous American Propeller Company were constructed with oak due to its low cost and easy workability.

Wooden propellers produced in the modern day are typically made for large model planes or WWI and WWII imitation aircraft. Modern wooden propellers, meaning propellers manufactured after WWI, tend to have symmetrical blade patterns and are made from light-colored wood. Wooden propellers used in WWI planes were larger, featured asymmetrical blade patterns and were made from darker colored woods, such as mahogany.