Full Scale Tests on a Thin Metal Propeller at Various Tip Speeds

This report describes an investigation made in order to determine the effect of tip speed on the characteristics of a thin-bladed metal propeller. The propeller was mounted on a VE-7 airplane with a 180-HP E-2 engine, and tested in the 20-foot propeller research tunnel of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. It was found that the effect of tip speed on the propulsive efficiency was negligible within the range of the tests, which was from 600 to 1,000 feet per second (about 0.5 to 0.9 the velocity of sound in air). (author)