Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Aircraft and Vehicles => Topic started by: Mongoose on January 28, 2015, 08:32:56 PM
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Can someone point me to a list of single-engine fighters with props that turned counter-clockwise instead of the normal clockwise?
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To my knowledge, I came across the Spit14, Tempest, Typhoon, and the Yak model fighters are the only one-engined, counter-clocking engine props, if I'm not leaving out anything else.(I literally went through all the fighters to check.)
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Griffon Spits starting with the XII
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And late model seafires......which probably fall under "spitfire".
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And late model seafires......which probably fall under "spitfire".
Yep. Any of the Griffon versions would qualify. The Seafire XV for example was the RN version of the Spit XII. Seafire 46 was thier version of the Spitfire 21.
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Anyone know why these engine designers choose the rotation direction they did?
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Anyone know why these engine designers choose the rotation direction they did?
:airplane: 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!!
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The props and engine turning direction was already chosen long before 1942.
EDIT: Apparently the Canadian's used Hamilton Standard "Hydromatic" constant-speed props for the Hurricane X, which also used the Packard built Merlin 28.
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I was lucky enough back in the 80s to get to know and correspond with a bunch of Spit XII pilots. Both squadrons transitioned to the XII from Spit Vbs. the typical approach to a first flight was to hop in and treat it like the earlier Vb. this of course meant trimming it the same as the Vb when it should have been the opposite. Needless to say there were some crazy sideways takeoffs and more than one guy had to fly between hangers as they fought to get straightened out. No one made that mistake twice :)
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I would call this a documentation failure or a pilot failure to read the documentation of the new Griffon Spit. There should have been a big fat red warning regarding engine rotation and proper trim in the documentation (or the aircraft).
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I'd hazard a guess that the D.520 and other French Hispano 12Y powered fighters might have had counter-clockwise props. The 12Y was the engine the Soviets developed into the Klimov M-105 engine that powered most of the Yak fighters.
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I'd hazard a guess that the D.520 and other French Hispano 12Y powered fighters might have had counter-clockwise props. The 12Y was the engine the Soviets developed into the Klimov M-105 engine that powered most of the Yak fighters.
You are correct Greebo.
D.520:
(http://www.pyperpote.tonsite.biz/listinmae/images/stories/ListinMAE/appareils/dewoitine/d520862/d520.jpg)
Avia B.135:
(http://files.brannamoc1938garda.webnode.cz/200004452-ded06dfcac/Avia%20B-135.jpg)
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I would call this a documentation failure or a pilot failure to read the documentation of the new Griffon Spit. There should have been a big fat red warning regarding engine rotation and proper trim in the documentation (or the aircraft).
More like the invincibility of youth. Not much different than the Mustang pilots who had to find out the hard way how a full fuselage fuel tank changed the flight characterics.
That and seeing the women ATA pilots climb out of the XIIs after they delivered them :aok
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More like the invincibility of youth.
Heh. Remember Earl's account of the 109 his squadron rebuilt, and the first American pilot who tried to take off in it?
- oldman
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Heh. Remember Earl's account of the 109 his squadron rebuilt, and the first American pilot who tried to take off in it?
- oldman
Yep :)
My favorite Earl Miller story was the one where he was flying his Jug and pulled up alongside the C-47. Earl, being of small stature and ducked down below the canopy so it looked like a pilotless P-47.
That and seeing the old ground attack vs escort pilot competition flowing at the Indy Con. Bud Anderson spoke and then was part of a round table discussion that included Earl. Bud had no idea they were flying 39s in the MTO while he was in a Mustang. He then commented how he'd only been hit once in all his flights. Earl came back with how if they didn't get hit they werent getting in close enough to do thier job. Bud made some comments about planes he'd shot down. Earl comes back with how he had not shot any down but he'd shot some up :)