Reverse pitch Propeller – A Reverse gear for propeller planes

Do airplanes have a reverse gear? In case of car or truck we just shift to reverse gear and move backwards but can airplanes do the same? Conventional airplanes actually do not have such gear or reverse motion mechanism.

Video Credits: mohammad ebrahimi

This is because airplanes don’t require reverse motion as much as automobiles do, instead they use towing vehicles for moving backwards. But aeronautics is actually capable of moving an airplane backward without any external source? Wonder how? This can be achieved by reversing the thrust direction.

In case of Propeller driven airplanes there is a configuration of Propeller choice which enables airplanes to move backwards. There is a Propeller configuration called reverse pitch propellers which enable the airplane to move backwards. How do reverse propellers actually work?

In propellers the Propeller blades are set at some particular angle and this angle is known as Propeller pitch angle, there are Propeller configuration in which this Propeller pitch angle can be varied during flight, these propellers are known as variable pitch Propellers.

Usually the Propeller blades are set at a positive blade angle which produces thrust in forward direction but if the blade angle is set to a negative value the direction of thrust can be totally reversed therefore creating a reverse thrust pushing airplane backwards, thus acting as a reverse gear for airplane.