Brian Super Pelican
Member
I recently got into a discussion with a very smart member who has been building airplanes for many years about the new propeller that I bought for my ultralight. It’s going to be powered by a Generac 990 cc V Twin with a belt drive PSRU with a 1.68:1 ratio. The discussion was what direction it’s going to be turning. Fortunately it’s a brand new Ultra Prop 2 and if I was wrong I could return just the blades for the correct rotation. This is another benefit over wood ease of repair and not waiting a year for “Culver Props” to still not have your prop done, the first reason I bought the Ultra Prop 2. Yes that was a jab and a plug in the same sentence. Anyway here I am up in the middle of the night trying to figure out why we are coming up with two answers. Here’s how, is the power being taken off of the front or the back of your engine. When you pop the hood of your car the motor is turning clockwise. The same is true if you go to the back of a Volkswagen and pop the trunk, hood, etc. most engines turn this way. But on a lawnmower, generator engine the front of the engine is the pull cord and flywheel, the “back” of the engine is where the power is taken from. For example my ultralight is a Super Pelican with the “tractor” pulling type with the prop facing forwards. My Generac motor is installed with the back of the engine facing forward which in turn makes the propeller spin COUNTER CLOCKWISE. Yes this is opposite of the global or 1/2 VW but please remember that those engines are taking power from the front of the motor. The VW clutch and transmission would be facing the back of the plane and in the pilots lap. I hope that this is helpful because I am going back to bed and hopefully sleeping
