In Pursuit of the Perfect Propeller

Overview

Objectives/Goals This project is intended to find which propeller is most efficient for my 0.40 model airplane engine. Methods/Materials I took an O.S. engine max-.40 LA model airplane engine and mounted it to a board which was on linear ball bearings. The board was attached to springs to measure how much static thrust the entine and propeller generated. Results I tested each propeller three times, measuring the rotational speed of the propeller in RPM (rotations per minute), and the distance that the spring was stretched. The stretching of the spring gave me the static thrust. Conclusions/Discussion I found out that the bigger the propeller, the bigger bite it got out of the air, but that slowed down the engine, causing it to work harder and heat up making it less eficient. But the smaller the propeller the less bite out of the air and not making it work hard enough whitch was not verry efficient either. So I found out that the middle of the sizes of the diffrent proppellers was most efficient for the model air plane eingine. That was the 11x7 propeller.

Competition history

• CSEF 2003 Aerodynamics/ Hydrodynamics · Entry J0113

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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