Propeller governor
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[edit] History
In the history of development of the airplane it became apparent that it is necessary to improve aircraft performance. One of influential factors was the propeller design in relation to the most efficient blade angle. The first propellers were fixed pitch and if the propeller blade angle is set to give good take off and climb performance, the propeller would be inefficient in cruising flight because the blade would be at too low an angle. It was apparent, that the blade angle needs to be adjustable.
A constant-speed propeller was needed along with a device that would change the propeller blade angles according to varying flight conditions. This way can an airplane obtain acceptable amount of efficiency during all flight conditions. This device was the propeller governor, or a propeller control unit.
[edit] Basic propeller governor description
The propeller governor can sense the speed of the engine and change the propeller blade angle to maintain a selected RPM regardless of the operational conditions of the aircraft.
