Wind-Tunnel Tests of Four- and Six-Blade Single- and Dual-Rotating Tractor Propellers

Test of 10-foot diameter, four and six blade single-rotating and dual-rotating propellers were conducted in the NACA propeller-research tunnel. The propellers were mounted at the front end of a streamline body incorporating spinners to house the hub portions. The effect of a symmetrical wing mounted in the slipstream ranged from 20 degrees to 65 degrees setting corresponds to airplane speeds greater than 500 miles per hour. The results indicate that dual-rotating propellers were from 0 to 6 percent more efficient than single-rotating ones; but, when the propellers operated in the presence of a wing, the gain was reduced by about one-half. Other advantages of dual-rotating propellers were found to include greater power absorption and greater efficiency at the low V/nD operating range of high-pitch propellers.