German Pratt and Whitney Aircraft Engine License Plate, Interwar Aviation

German aircraft-engine license-production identification plate documenting manufacture under rights acquired from the American Pratt and Whitney Aircraft Company of Hartford, Connecticut. This substantial rectangular metal plate is an unusual surviving artifact of the close technical relationship between American and German aviation engineering during the interwar period.

The face carries raised German and English-language wording within a simple bordered field. The inscription reads:
“LIZENZBAU No.
Herstellungsrecht erworben von
THE PRATT and WHITNEY AIRCRAFT CO.
HARTFORD-CONN. U.S.A.
U.S.A. PATENTE ERTEILT u. ANG. D.R.P. ANG.”

This translates as:
“Licensed construction No.
Manufacturing rights acquired from
The Pratt and Whitney Aircraft Co.
Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.A.
U.S.A. patents granted and pending; German Reich patent applied for.”

The rectangular field following “LIZENZBAU No.” was intended to carry the individual license or production number. On this example that field is blank or the original number has been removed and cannot presently be read.

The plate is made from a silver-colored nonferrous metal and has four mounting holes, one positioned at each corner, showing that it was intended to be permanently attached to an aircraft engine or associated production assembly. The reverse is plain and exhibits the normal staining, scratches and residue expected of a component that was once mounted to machinery.

The wording places this plate within the important interwar period of German aviation development. In 1928 BMW acquired licenses to manufacture Pratt and Whitney air-cooled radial engines in Germany. That relationship was technically significant: German development of the Pratt and Whitney Hornet lineage ultimately resulted in the BMW 132 series of nine-cylinder radial engines, which became an important German aircraft powerplant during the 1930s. The BMW 132 was subsequently employed in numerous aircraft, including versions of the Junkers Ju 52. The plate itself, however, does not name BMW or identify a specific engine type, and an exact BMW 132 attribution therefore cannot be confirmed from this artifact alone.

Pratt and Whitney had emerged during the 1920s as one of the leading American developers of air-cooled radial aircraft engines, with its Wasp and Hornet families becoming internationally influential. Licensing arrangements allowed overseas manufacturers to reproduce and further develop these designs, making plates such as this tangible evidence of the international exchange of aviation technology between the wars.

From a collecting standpoint, this piece is particularly interesting because it is not simply decorative aviation memorabilia. It was a functional industrial identification plate intended to record legal manufacturing authority for an American aircraft-engine design being produced under German license. Its bilingual corporate content and explicit patent language document the commercial and engineering relationship directly.

Condition is good and appropriately untouched. The raised lettering remains strong and readily legible, with considerable darkening and oxidation across the recessed field. There is scattered surface scratching, staining, abrasions and edge wear consistent with removal from machinery and subsequent storage. The four mounting holes remain complete. The reverse displays heavier grime, oxidation, adhesive or mounting residue and numerous handling marks. No additional maker, engine-type or serial markings are presently observed.

This is a compelling technical aviation artifact for a collection devoted to German aircraft development, Pratt and Whitney, early radial engines, interwar aviation, or the technological evolution that connected 1920s civil aviation with the major German aircraft powerplants of the following decade.