Anyone know why these engine designers choose the rotation direction they did?
Randy, I heard or read somewhere, and can't find it right now, that in late 42 and earl 43, the Brit's had plenty of whole spits, including engines, but a shortage of props which turned right, as viewed from the cockpit, but Hartzell and another American prop manufacture had plenty of left turning propls, which was designed and built for the P-38 counter rotating aircraft. The blades themselves were the same, not the hubs, which they were attached to.
Those left turning engines can be made to turn right as well as left, its just a matter of timing. The parts are the same for left or right turning engines, just the blade angle of the prop is different.
Other than that, I can see no reason why they reversed the direction of the engine. Maybe that famous Brit pilot who had only one leg, his LEFT and with the prolem of the torque and P factor, maybe he had some influence on the direction of rotation. He could then use his left leg to counter act torque and p factor on takeoff. Don't ask me what it did when flying the things with one leg, because I don't know. Maybe he used a "stick" of some kind, just like our Chuck Yeager did when he shut the door lock on the X-1 that broke the sound barrier. It is an interesting question, I would like to know the correct answers!!
