Belt Auction

Questions About World War II Fighters and Flight Characteristics .....?

This question popped up in my head after my niece broke one of the blades from a collectible Franklin Mint F6F Hellcat : http://www.flyingmule.com/img/prd/FM-B11E191_01_lrg.jpg : It was accidental but I still winced a little (I bought more than 20 different models at less than $10 - 20 apiece. The store in Las Vegas was closing and he gave them to me incredibly cheap!) Here's the question ... Suppose the enemy fighter starts poking holes in your fighter (any fighter ... it doesn't matter for this question) and a bullet knocks off a blade. The Hellcat has a 3 bladed propeller. If one blade is broken/missing ... can the plane still fly? Does it require at least most of the blade (say about 3/4 of the blade) for it to continue flying? (On my collectible the full blade broke off) If it cannot ... does this put the plane in a spin ... will it break up due to tremendous vibration of a shattered propeller? Thanks and thumbs up to all who answer! Just give me time to get back and read the answers.

Public Comments

1. The chances of bullets hitting the prop enough times to take one of the blades off is slim, but if it were to happen, it would be the end of that plane. Propeller blades have to be very accurately balanced or it will vibrate the engine enough make the aircraft uncontrollable and is likely to rip the engine from its mounts.
2. The loss of a propeller blade would create an imbalance that would rip the engine off the airframe in a split second, which is a bad way to fly.
3. TJ is right on the money. Prop blades are balanced and if one blade were shot off (highly unlikely with a bullet, but perhaps a cannon shell), the aircraft is going down--quickly.
4. As already said, a missing prop blade would rip the engine right from the mounts. But, what are the odds. There have been several aircraft that have taken a round through or into a prop blade. I recall an picture in Air Classics of a P-47 that took a 20mm shell in a blade which bent it 90 degrees forward, about the last 14 inches anyway. The vibration was impressive according to the pilot; but Pratt builds a helluva engine and she brought him home.