Single-blade propeller
A single-blade propeller may be used on aircraft to generate thrust. Normally propellers are multiblades but the simplicity of a single-blade propeller fits well on motorized gliders, because it permits the design of a smaller aperture of the glider fuselage for retraction of the powerplant. The counterbalanced teetering mono-blade propeller generates fewer vibrations than conventional multiblade configurations.[citation needed] Often, single blade propeller configurations are touted as having a much greater efficiency than multiblade propellers, but this is a falsehood outside the inertial losses in spinning a heavier propeller, and the minimal additional drag from added blades.[citation needed] Single bladed propellers are principally used to fulfill engineering requirements that fall outside the scope of efficiency.
Patents
- US Patent 2742095 Mechanism for balancing single blade aircraft rotor
- US Patent 6619585 Helicopter single-blade rotor
- US Patent 5971322 - Propeller propulsion unit for aircraft in general
Sources
- https://web.archive.org/web/20070418051732/http://www.glidingmagazine.com/FeatureArticle.asp?id=368
- https://web.archive.org/web/20070202111444/http://www.alisport.com/eu/images/img_news/Volaresett04/VOLARE_SETT04.htm
See also
Samara (fruit) single blade-like seed which autorotates in Nature.
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