Sylvanus Albert Reed (8 April 1854 – 1 October 1935) was an American aeronautical engineer who developed the modern metal aircraft propeller.
[1] He worked as an engineer specializing in electrical signals for railroad safety until retirement in 1912.
He researched propeller shapes and materials that could withstand tip speed up to Mach 1.35.
In 1920 he was encouraged by the local police to move his experiments from his attic and rented a shop at the Curtiss aircraft company's Garden City factory.
He invented the Reed Metal Propeller, testing it in August 1921 on a Curtiss K-6 powered Standard.