The positions of the propellers are extremely important for the vehicle to give its best performance. Therefore, the positions of the propellers in aircraft and ships differ.
Propellers in the nose or wings of airplanes are generally located in the rear part of ships. In order to better understand the reason for this, it is necessary to evaluate the characteristics of the vehicles and the conditions they are in, respectively.
Pushing or pulling water?
The density of water is 800 times greater than that of air. Therefore, it is easier to push the water forward rather than pulling the water.
The center of gravity of marine vehicles is very important.
In marine vehicles the propellers are connected directly to the engines via a shaft and the engines are very heavy. You don’t want to put heavy things in front of a boat because then when you get into the waves, the boat goes under them instead of rising over them.
This is basically why the front of a boat is pointed and shaped. The back is usually straight, while directing the waves down and to the sides.
What happens if we put the propeller in front of the rudder?
Recently, there are propellers on the front or near the front of passenger ships. However, these propellers are not for navigating the ship, but because of its 360-degree rotation capability, it is purely for assisting maneuvering while berthing to the pier.
Because if you put the propeller right in front of the rudder, you gain maneuverability by directing the propeller flow with the rudder while the engine is running.
It’s not without its risks that the propeller is in the lead.
When you put the propeller or the rudder forward, you may hit something in the sea that you cannot notice and be damaged, and you may be completely disabled as the main propulsion system will be damaged.
For submarines, the situation is somewhat different. The biggest problem for a sub is to be noticed underwater due to propeller noise. One of the most important factors to prevent this is that the submarine propeller is located at the rear due to its design.
Let’s go to the planes. Pushing or pulling air?
On airplanes, the situation is the opposite. Since the air density is less than that of water, the propeller must pull the air, not push it.
The position of the propeller increases the control ability of the aircraft.
Aircraft propellers, by their nature, produce a high airflow behind them. By directing this air directly over the wing and control surfaces, it gives the pilot greater control of the aircraft, especially at low speeds.
Airplanes are not just forward, right, left, like ships; it has to move faster up and down as well. In addition, the air drawn over the propeller in the front will also be a solution to the heating problem of the engine during operation.
The era of propeller planes is slowly coming to an end.
However, with the rapidly developing technology today, turbine technology in aircraft; It has replaced propeller airplanes for reasons such as efficient use and safety.
From now on, front propeller planes will probably remain as toys for nostalgia or hobby for us.
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