Propeller (aeronautics)

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In aeronautics, an aircraft propeller, also called an airscrew, is an aircraft propulsion device that converts rotary motion from an engine or other power source into a swirling slipstream that generates thrust. A typical propeller engine comprises the motor driving a rotating shaft (driveshaft), to which several radial airfoil-section blades are attached, so that the whole blade assembly (i.e. the propeller) rotates around an axis of rotation longitudinal to the direction of travel. The propeller blades, which can be made from wood, metal or composite materials, attaches to the driveshaft either directly or through reduction gearing, and the blade pitch may be fixed, manually variable to a few set positions, or of the automatically variable "constant-speed" type. Propeller-driven fixed-wing aircraft are the earliest type of powered heavier-than-air aircraft (i.e. aerodynes), with the Wright Flyer (which used two push propellers powered by a chain drive gasoline engine) being the first...

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