What are the Advantages of a Constant Speed Propeller?
A constant speed propeller is required to achieve the maximum performance of any high performance aircraft design. For example, how well do you think your car would perform if it was stuck in only one gear? Let’s say you only had the equivalent of 1st gear, driving at 55 mph on the highway would not be possible or practical. Conversely, how about starting from a stop in 5th gear? If possible, the acceleration would be anything but ideal. This is exactly what takes place with any airplane operating with a fixed pitch propeller. Take-off The typical aircraft engine will develop full power around 2700 rpm, but it is not uncommon for a fixed pitch cruise propeller to only turn up 2100-2200 rpm’s on take off. This means the airplane is only able to use 65% of its maximum horsepower available on take-off, and this is when you need horsepower the most! With the same fixed pitch propeller, a 260 hp engine will only develop slightly over 170 hp, radically and adversely affecting T/O performance
Related Questions
- What can I expect for performance gains with the Constant Speed Propeller Conversion, and how does it change the weight and balance?
- Obviously the big attractions of MT are reduced cost and speed. Are there any other advantages?
- Are TMX engines available for both constant speed and fixed pitch propeller use?
