Direction of prop rotation

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Duck Rogers
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Direction of prop rotation

Postby Duck Rogers » Sat Jun 10, 2006 7:15 pm

A quick lesson in prop types:

With regard to direction of rotation, there are only 2 types of props:
1) Lefthand and
2)Righthand

Do not get confused by people referring to props as TRACTOR or PUSHER props :shock: In my opinion there's no such thing.

It is the location of the engine relevant to the aircraft that determines whether it is in a TRACTOR or PUSHER configuration, because as you'll see when you read further, a tractor prop can also be a pusher prop and vice versa :shock:

To determine what prop you have, stand in the wind created by the propwash with the engine turning. The prop will be turning either lefthand or righthand. Simple so far.

A TRACTOR setup with a Rotax engine AND gearbox will have a Lefthand prop and the same TRACTOR setup with a belt-drive system WITHOUT a Rotax gearbox will have a Righthand prop.

A PUSHER setup with a Rotax engine and gearbox will have a Righthand prop and the same PUSHER setup, with a belt-drive system without a gearbox will have a Lefthand prop.

So, you can take the same prop that is used in a tractor setup with Rotax engine and gearbox and use it on a pusher setup with Rotax engine with a belt-drive system without a gearbox :D All of a sudden the TRACTOR prop has now become a PUSHER prop :shock:
That's why I say there's no such thing as a tractor or pusher prop :D

BTW, this does not apply to Rotax 912, 914.

Duck Rogers
Airspeed, altitude, or brains....you always need at least two

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