Estimating Propeller Slipstream Drag on Airplane Performance

摘要

A method of estimating propeller slipstream drag within performance predictions of airplanes driven by a single propeller is presented. The method includes calculating parasite and induced drag components that primarily result from the increase of dynamic pressure in propeller slipstream. The incremental drag due to slipstream of running propeller is shown to decrease with air speed and increase with propeller pitch angles. Propeller efficiency was corrected to account for the slipstream drag at various blade pitch angles. The amount of correction appears relatively high at low-speed and high-pitch-angle conditions, which corresponds to relatively high engine power settings.