Question

Are the blades of a propeller necessarily in the shape of wings or would flat blades work?

Answer 1

Hey mate!

Flat blades will work, poorly, but if you have enough engine power even a barn door will fly, so that's not a fundamental problem. If you want to quantify this for yourself, find lift and drag coefficients vs. angle of attack curves for flat plates and airfoils and compare the best ratios between lift and drag for both.


Thanks for the question!

☺☺☺

Answer 2

HEY MATE,,,


HERE IS YOUR ANSWER,,,


The blades freely move through an entire circle on an axis at right angles to the shaft. This allows hydrodynamic and centrifugal forces to ' set ' the angle the blades reach and so the pitch of the propeller. A propeller that turns clockwise to produce forward thrust, when viewed from aft, is called right-handed.

Flat blades will work, poorly, but, if you have enough engine power even a barn door will fly, so that's not a fundamental problem. If you want to quantify this for yourself, find lift and drag coefficients vs. angle of attack curves for flat plates and airfoils and compare the best ratios between lift and drag for both.


HOPE THIS HELPS YOU.


Regards

:) MONICA :)