 The 1911 'bent-end' propeller in the wind tunnel at NASA/Langley, Old Dominion University | « Previous | Page 4 of 4 The propeller was one of the Wright brothers' most important contributions to aviation. The propeller used on the Model B had been designed in 1905 - the 'bent-end' propeller. The Wrights developed this unusual shape as a way of minimizing the changes in airfoil that occurred while in flight which affected the propellers' performance. It remained their standard propeller for all the Wright company aircraft. During the tests, the reproduction propeller was measured at an efficiency of 81% - only 4 percentage points below that of today's' best wooden propellers. |
