Originally Posted by
WHBM
Are the engines not the same, rotating the same way, but it's the gearbox that reverses the rotation of one of them (rather like having one half of a contra-rotating gearbox) ?
Nope. The TIO-540 series powering the NavajoCR/Chieftain is a direct-drive engine without a reduction gearbox, so the whole engine, and its magneto and accessories, rotate the opposite way, and the redesigned engine becomes an LTIO-xxx (
Left-hand rotation,
Turbocharged, fuel
Injection, horizontally
Opposed.
The standard engine, like most American powerplants, has what is termed Right-Hand Rotation (clockwise, upper propeller blade moving to the right, as seen from behind). Of course, when the airframe designer decides to equip contra-rotating engines, usually to address the problems of "critical" engine failure, it is the right-installed engine which undergoes the change. Hence, the left-side engine of a Chieftain has right-hand rotation, and the right-side engine has left rotation, and a left-hand prop.