Diagram Showing How To Make A Propeller From A Wooden Blank
There is much difference of opinion as to the proper modeling of the propeller. It has been worked out by elaborate equations that the blade should be concave and yet in actual tests it has been found that some machines are driven faster by a flat blade propeller. By a flat screw we mean a straight pitch propeller, or one in which the angle does not vary from the hub to the tip. When Mr. Glenn H. Curtiss made his famous record flight at Rheims, he used a straight pitch propeller, and when, later, his machine was equipped with propellers scientifically curved, his aeroplane lost speed. Evidently the exact relation of propeller forms to the machine still remains much of a mystery.
Design of Metal Propeller
A very simple test of the efficiency of propellers of various modeling may be made by running them in heavy smoke. By burning a piece of oily cotton waste, you may watch the action of the propellers on the smoke, while, at the same time, this greasy smoke will leave its mark on the section of the propeller blade which does the most work. The speed of the blades near the hub of the propeller is, of course, much less than at the tips, and consequently the work they perform in sending the aeroplane forward is small. At the extreme end of the propellers, the air, of course, tends to slip off.
The most efficient part of the blade, according to these tests, is about one-third of the radius distant from the center. Less than two-thirds of the propeller seems to do effective driving work. On the propellers driven against greasy smoke, the blades near the hub remain comparatively clean while the portion most soiled extends outward from this point. The test would seem to indicate that a broad blade narrowing to the hub would develop the maximum thrust. It would also seem that it is unnecessary to carry the lines of the blade close to the axle, thereby possibly weakening the propeller.
To understand the theory of the propeller, bear in mind the principle of the action of the wings, for the analogy between the two is very close. The forward, or entering, edge of the propeller is curved so that it will cut its way smoothly and offer less resistance than a straight entering edge. The blade of the propeller is made slightly concave for exactly the same reason that the plane is curved. Like the plane, such a surface takes advantage of the resistance of the air.
The curve of the propeller blade near the hub is made much higher than further on because this part travels more slowly, and it is important that the cylinder of air set in motion by the blade should have the same velocity throughout its diameter. The blade is made widest at its outer end, since this is the most effective surface and is expected to do the greatest amount of work. The other end of the propeller blade is rounded off in order that the air may slip away, thus avoiding skin friction, which at this point is naturally high.
A test of high aspect ratio planes