aircraft propeller
Sign in to saveAlso known as propeller, airscrew, air screw, aerial propeller, airplane propeller
aircraft component which converts engine torque into forward thrust
~22 min read
Encyclopedic overview
The propellers on a C-130J Super Hercules military transport aircraft In aeronautics, an aircraft propeller, also called an airscrew, converts rotary motion from an engine or other power source into a swirling slipstream which pushes the propeller forwards or backwards. It comprises a rotating power-driven hub, to which are attached several radial airfoil-section blades such that the whole assembly rotates about a longitudinal axis. The blade pitch may be fixed, manually variable to a few set positions, or of the automatically variable "constant-speed" type.
The propeller attaches to the power source's driveshaft either directly or through reduction gearing. Propellers can be made from wood, metal or composite materials.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “aircraft propeller” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.