RC Plane - Prop Pitch Checker

A simple tool you can create out of 2 to 3mm plywood. Cut to size and apply some appropriate annotation - Pitch Ruler and 30° Angle - then follow the directions in this video to quickly check your prop's pitch.

[@aeromodeller1]

That will give you the pitch at the 30 degree blade angle. But the pitch usually varies along the blade, different at each radius.

[@eddrakes]

Prop Pitch definition is "the distance a propeller moves through a fluid in one complete revolution", not the angle of the prop which varies through its length. Ask if you need a more complete explanation. Sorry if you are having trouble understanding this... Watch again, listen to the instructions carefully. It works very well!!

[@aeromodeller1]

Prop pitch is conventionally measured at a specified radius, usually 2/3 or 3/4 of radius. This is entirely arbitrary, since the measured pitch will usually be different at each radiius. Pitch measured in this way will allow a rough sorting of props, but it is useless for performance analysis.

[@aeromodeller1]

There is geometric pitch and aerodynamic pitch. They are not the same. Geometric pitch is how far the blade element chord would move forward as if it was a screw, moving with the blade element chord tangent to the line of advance. Propellers can not work like that. They do not screw through a solid medium. The blade element must have an attack angle relative to the path through the air to develop lift. The distance travedled through the air is less than the geometric pitch. I prefer to call that the advance; the distance traveled through the air in one revolution. My comment was on the geometric pitch. The geometric pitch can be calculated from the blade element angle at each radius. Almost all props I have measured have a different geometric pitch at each radius.