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RESEARCH MEMORANDUM
FLIGHT TESTS OF A CURTISS NO. 838-1C2-18 THR;EE-BLADE

PROPELLER HAVING TRAILING-EDGE EXTENSIONS

BY
John J: Gardner
Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory Langley Field, Va. .
Restriction/ Classification Cancelled

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Restriction/Classification Cancelled

EACA RM Eo. LwlO

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Blede-form curve8 of the test propeller a r e preeented in figure 1. 3 3 1 figure 2 i s Shawn a c l o ~ ~ u view p and in figme 3, a fltght viov,of the t e s t propeller and survey rake installed on a Republic P-47D-28 airplane Teet equipment, test p&cscluro, and method.of data reduction are eimilar t o those deecribed in reference 1 .

Ih figure 8 &ro presented thrust-grading curves obtained i n war emergencypower climb c-dftlon. There is no evidence in these -surveys of loss i n thruflt near the tlp usually associated with high-tip Mach nlrmbers. It ehonld be'noted a% k h l a pofnt that the large thrmst difference between left and right.a u r v e ~ sand t h e l a t e r a l shift I n the aurveys near he t i p station (xS2 = 1,O) are the result of .pitched anB yawed candftions, .reqpectively, of the thruat axis and.are n o t to be E L S S O C T ~ M the effectE of compressibtlity. The effects of pitch and. $aw.:axe dewribsd more
, w i t h

completely in reference 3 .

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mACA

RM No. L'TDlO

Effect of extensions i n climb For a gimn power-absorption requirement, increasing propeller solidity, i n t h i a instance by addition of trailing-edge extension, reduces t h e operating lift coefficients of the blade sections. Since it is generally known that blade geotions operate a t hightlift coefficients in the olimb condition, any reductfon in operating aqctiw lift coeflicient hae a beneficfal effect on propeller efficiency fmm w t o standp i n t a . fir&, the eections operate nemr their optfmum-lift coefficiente f o r ~lta~dmum ratios. seccad, operating at 3owerlift coaf'fioients r a i s e s eection critlcal epaede, thus delayt h e oneret of compressibility effects.
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Although the t e s t propelLer i s not operetfng a tm m m u i x a e f f lciency, it appears to be operating mar enough to maximum efficlenog.so that t h e data of reference 4 may be usad i n this andysi s

If -the assumption is made that the rate of change of efficiency with power indicated i n figure 7 f& the propeller Nith extensions i f 3 a l s o applicable t o .the propeller without extens9on8,. the.offect on efficiency of a n incroase of 20 percent in Mwer abeqptfon of the propeller without exte~sionacan 'be estfmatsd. ,For,exatnple,' ,' figure '7 Bhowa t h a t at an advance-ratfo of l'.O incrpaslng +&e . propeller power coefficient from o .13 t o o .156 (a 20-peroent incresee) decreases the efficiency by about- 2 percent. This indicates that, i n addition. t o the increase In axial-energy loss, other losses have also been increased by a s m a l l amount. .
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It i e now possible to estimate the a m o u n t by which the ext;enslons increased t h e propeller'climb efficiency. If the increarre- fn power is absorbed without a change in s o l i d i t y , t h e efficiency 1088, ae akove, .is about 2 percent.. If trailing-edge exteneions equivalent t o ths percent increase in power a r e added, then o n l y t h e added axial-energy loea of 0,5 to 1 percent is h c m d . Therefore, the riet.reeu3.t is an improvement i n efficiency of 1 t o 1 . 5 percent attributable t o t h e addltion of extensions.

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&ardna.tion of the efficiejncy c m e s of figure 1 . 4 indicates a gradual drop in effrcfency at the lower speeds.as.thep o w e r coefficfent is raised. This is in agreement with the trend in the climb teats of figure 7. -At the higher speeds, a reverse trend is ObEeXTed. An increase in power coefficient results la a n increase i n efficiency. From figure 14 it is noted that at an afrplane Mach number of 0 . 7 increasing the power coefficient per blade from 0 .OB to 0 a82 results in 4 gain fn efffciency of approxfmately.7 percent. A further increme to 0.092 r e d t s In an additional efficiencyga,in of 2 percent.
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be decreasgd about 2 percent. Exgrgi3eed as a loss in top speed of the airc.raf"t, t h i s would be 3 to 4 miles per hour.
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The =&m3.ysis of the climb and high-speed t e a t s have indicated that the exbeneiuns improves. climb efficiency at the expense CXP high-aged efficiency. For the normal .lo@ing condition of a Republtc P-4m28 airplane (appmximately'13,000 pbUnd8) it i S estimated m e resulting fncreaee in rate-o#-climb is of,the order of 100 feet per *Ute,. The decroase in %ob speed is difflcult. to accurately determihe ?$it it 'is.,likely that it is not more than 4 miles..per hour. In adtiltion, these tests' haye demonstrated that the propeller l e considerably underloaded ,ethigh speeds. This c a d i t i a n could be correctecl bg.increaering the power available, reducing blade; solidity, or changing the propeller-engine Gear ratio, . b u t all of these methods would result in reduced: 'clinib efficiencies. However, a twu-epeed propeller-engine g e e ~ystem would permit efficient propeL1ar.operation at both climb and highspeed conditions. The neea f o r . such a dyetem will'become more eviaent as the gap be-en t h e mx~Lnnnna p e d and' climbing speeds of ai.rcraft ftru;the'r +den&.
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.. ... , 3 . For'airplaae, M a c h ~l~rmber~ qf 6.6 t o 0.7,. peak efficiency w i l l be 'reachod'uata power coeffic$ent of appron.ltely 0 -12. . . . . . per. .. . 'zilide .
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NACA RM No. L7DlO

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NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR AEROHAUTICS

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Figure 2.- Republic P-47D-28airplane equipped with a Curtiss No. 838-1C2-18 three-blade propeller and survey rakes.

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Figure 3.- Flight view of Republic P-47D-28 airplane equipped with a Curtiss No. 838-1C2-18three-blade propeller and survey rakes.

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Figuse 4.- normal pousr alimb at an indioated afrsgsed of 165 m q e a per hour.
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833-la2-18 three-blade propeller on Republia pJc7D.28 airplane.

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Figure 5.- Military p m r olimb at an indioated. alrmpeed of lb5 milee per hoar. Blo. d j d - l e - 1 8 threbblade propelleu a r Republlo p-47D-26 alrplana.

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NATIONAL ADVISORY COnMlTTEL Fop k E M N W f C S

PIguxe 7.- Effect of power l o a d i n g

OD efflolenoy i n the climb oondltlm. 1'22-18 three-blade propeller an Regublio p-47D-2g airplane.

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NACA RM No. L7D10

Fig. 8

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I n d l o a t e d airspeed,

- T h r ~ t - g r a d165 ing for climb at w a r emergency power. miles per hour. Curtfsa No. $38-lC2-18
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three-blade propeller on Republio P-47b-26 airplane.

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NACA RM No. L7D10

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NACA R&I No. L7D10

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NACA RM No. L7D10

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Airph-tne Mach number. M Figure 9.- Variation in propeller efflolenuy with airplane Mach number a t a o n s t a n t blade-loading oonditlon. Power ooefflclent per blade approxlmate15 .06; 2700 engine rpm. Curtis8 Bo. g3d-le-18 three-blade propeller 0 4 Republlo H7D-28 airplane.

NACA RM No. L7D10

Fig. 10

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curves o f the Military Power-Climb tests.

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Airplane M d c h number, M Figure 1 0 . - Variation in propeller efficlenog with airpltW3 Maoh number at omstant blade-Io.ading o o n d i t l o n . Power ooeffiaient per blade approximately, . a 2 ; 2 00 engine rpm. O u r t l s e No. g38-l@-lg three-blade propeller on Republic P- ?I!-28 airplane.

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NACA RM No. L7D10

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Figure 11.- Variation in propeller effiolenay with airplane Maoh number a t Power o o e f f i o l e n t per blade approrioonetant blade-loadingoondition. mate15 .M5; 2 00 engine rpm. Ourtiss EO. 838-162.18 three-blade propeller on Republio P 7D-28 airplane.

NACA 'RM No. L7D10

Fig. 12

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. .4 .5 . 6 7 .8 Airplane Mach number. A figure 12.- Variation i n propeller effioiency with airplane MR& number at oonstant bla8e-loading condition. Pouer ooeffiofent per b l e e approximately, .O92; 2 00 engine rpm. Ourties No. 83I3-102-lg three-blade propeller on Republio P- m 2 8 airplane.

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NACA RM No. L7D10

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Ffgvre 13.- Variation in propeller effiolenoy with airplane Maah number at oonetant blade-loading oanditfan. Power ooeffiolent per b U d g apprcrxiIsately, . l e ; 2 00 engine rpm. Ourties BO. 838-1U2-18 three-blade propeller on Republio P- 7D-28 airplane.

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MACA R N No. L7D10

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NACA RM No. L7DlO

Fig. 16

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Figure 1 6 . - Seotian lift coeffioient for d u r t f s s No. 832L102-1$ three-blade propeller on Republio P-47D airplane for m i l i t a r y and war emergenoy powers at altitude.

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