Student Choice 

PILT 1420- Aircraft Systems

    I took this class my Senior year of high school at the Jordan Tech Center. I took it to fulfill my student choice general education requirement. Here I posted my essay on the most important part of a small airplane, the propeller.

Reflection

    I picked this assignment for my ePortfolio because it shows my basic knowledge of aircraft systems. For this paper we had to pick a part of the plane and do research paper on it. I choose the most essential part of any propeller driven craft, the propeller. Being a pilot, especially a single engine rated pilot, knowing how the propeller works both aerodynamically and mechanically is vital for any situation.
    This assignment demonstrates my learning by taking the subject of propellers and doing in-depth research on it. I learned about the differences between the two most popular kinds of propellers, aluminum and wood. From my research I developed a pros and cons list of the different material used, and discovered that aluminum is a far better material for propeller use.

Aluminum VS. Wood Propellers

       How is an airplane able to get off the ground for a dead stop? Ever since the first plane, invented by the Wright Brothers, propellers have been used to get the aircraft up to speed to achieve flight. A propeller is defined as a type of fan which transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. A pressure difference is produced between the forward and rear surfaces of the airfoil-shaped blade, and air or water is accelerated behind the blade. Propeller dynamics can be modeled by both Bernoulli's principle and Newton's third law. There are many different types of airplane propellers such as wood, plastic, fiber glass, and aluminum. Although each is said to be better than the other they have all have their pros and cons. In this essay I will primarily focus on aluminum versus wood propellers. At the end I will decide which one, in my opinion, is the best.

Click Here to keep reading.