Science: Return of the Prop

Designers of airplane propellers used to weep into their blueprints every time a jet plane roared over the plant. They feared that the fierce little jets, which have no propellers, were the wave of the future. These days the prop designers are more cheerful. The performance of Allison's XT-4O turboprop engine (5,500 h.p.) has made many airplane companies think once more in terms of propellers. The prop men are sure that propellers, drastically redesigned, can keep up even with the fastest airplanes.

Last week Hamilton Standard Propellers Co. told about its long, desperate,...

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