ORIGINAL: checkmate91
So nothing then in the suggestion that having the prop at 90 degrees to TDC helps counteract the natural imbalance of a single piston engine?
I've always positioned props at 3/9 when the piston is at 12 (so to speak) irrespective of how the engine is positioned in the plane. have to admit that I've gone through quite a few props over the years but still got all my original engines...
Andy
There is a school of thought that you're referencing.
Single cylinder engines that have cranks at 90degrees to the piston travel cannot be perfectly balanced. There are a couple of forces generated that can't be counteracted. So some people have suggested a somewhat "mystical magical method" of using an unbalanced prop to solve that imbalance. It works in theory. Lots of things do. But in practice this concept isn't worth doing.