November 22, 200718 yr Can anybody shed some light on this story for me?One day in 1945 cries of distress were heard over the radio above the Chine Sea. "My engine is hit, I'm losing collant - what'll I do?" Savvy P-38 pilots in the air at the time tried to advise the obviously green fellow in distress. "Calm down and feather it." Then came the dejected reply, "Feather, ####. I'm flying a P-51!"
November 22, 200718 yr Author Easy---The P-38's (twin engines) need to feather (prop blade at same angle as oncoming air) to reduce drag and yaw towards the "dead" engine. The P-51 being a single (centerline) engine, doesn't need full feather.L.Adamson
November 22, 200718 yr Plus the fact that the P-38 pilots are telling the young pilot with shot up engine not to worry, you can make it home on your other engine :-)
November 23, 200718 yr Cool, thanks guys. Does flight sim actually model the prop drag on a dead engine, where feathering it will make a difference in the sim?
November 24, 200718 yr Author >Cool, thanks guys. Does flight sim actually model the prop>drag on a dead engine, where feathering it will make a>difference in the sim? Yes, and some models are better than others. It looks good from the VC's and spot views too, as the blades actually go to a feathered position.L.Adamson
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