PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Prop tip speed on my (Spitfire) Maule
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Old 1st Dec 2017, 21:51
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India Four Two
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Manchester MAN
Posts: 6,644
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pb84,

I found this rather nice, practical explanation of prop tip speed and how to calculate it:

Propeller Performance: An introduction, by EPI Inc.

I entered the data into an Excel spreadsheet, because your question reminded me that I had been meaning to do the same calculations for the 265 HP C182 towplane that I fly. At 2700 rpm, it sounds like a C185 floatplane taking off. For noise abatement, I reduce RPM by at least 400 after becoming safely airborne.

The attached chart shows the tip speed Mach number for your old 72" prop and the new 200 cm / 79" prop. Your new prop is bound to be noisier at any given RPM, because it has 7" more diameter.

Looking at the chart, and assuming Sea Level on a Standard Day and a TAS of 60 kt, your old prop had a tip speed of M 0.76 at 2700 rpm, whereas the new one has a tip speed of M 0.83. To have a tip speed of M 0.76, you would have to reduce the RPM to about 2550.
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