On Wed, 10 Aug 2005 00:57:18 -0400, Morgans wrote:


"Jim Carriere" wrote

It's handy (beta) during taxiing when you can get no or slight reverse
thrust, that saves your brakes and is less workload when you get the
hang of it. It's usually a bad idea to reverse taxi- kick up fod then
roll through it as the engine ingests it, hard to see where you're
going, the nose (or tail) wheel may not castor 360 degrees... to name a
few reasons.

It is also -really- handy for seaplanes, who have *no* brakes. ;-))


But, having a prop with a beta or reverse capability adds new very nasty
failure modes. Type certificated aircraft with props that have a beta or
reverse functionality have additional complicated monitors to prevent the
prop from going into uncommanded beta or reverse in flight. I would want
a prop with the low pitch stop set to a position that is safe for
in-flight operation. If the prop goes into beta or reverse in the air it
can kill you.

--
Kevin Horton RV-8 (finishing kit)
Ottawa, Canada
http://go.phpwebhosting.com/~khorton/rv8/
e-mail: khorton02(_at_)rogers(_dot_)com