Originally Posted by
evansb
The photos on airliners.net of Britannias with dissimilar propellors are both Canadian Pacific Airlines Britannias. Both aircraft have the dissimilar prop installed on the number two engine. One photo shows a near-new aircraft outside the company hangar in Vancouver. The tapered tip propellor has rubber boot leading edges versus the bare edge of the square tip propellor. Given the intake icing problems of the RR Proteus engine, perhaps this unusual propellor configuration was an in-service test and assessment of props and icing.
Whatever the reason, it is thought provoking.
Could the photo have been taken when they were 1/4 way through a prop change ? Would have thought an unbalanced mixture would be bad news (rather like mixing your tyre types on the ar).