Light twins not using contra-rotating propellers

"Mark Levin" wrote in message
As was pointed out to me the Beechcraft Baron does not use contra-rotating
propellers. A bit of research showed me that most U.S. built light twins
do
not use them either.
My question is why?

Cost has been pointed out, however the Piper Navajo Chieftain has
counter-rotating props (as opposed to contra-rotating) and no one mentions
that they didn't buy a Chieftain because of the extra cost. The internal
engine parts that differ from each side are well stocked by parts suppliers
and therefore differ little in price from each other.

Not mentioned by other posters is that stability in twins can be affected by
which way the props rotate. The P-38 Lightning and Ted Smith Aerostar are
examples of this. Counter-rotate the props one way and get better
performance at the cost of stability. Turn the props in the opposite
direction and get better stability at the cost of performance.

D.

Capt.Doug writes:

Not mentioned by other posters is that stability in twins can be affected by
which way the props rotate. The P-38 Lightning and Ted Smith Aerostar are
examples of this. Counter-rotate the props one way and get better
performance at the cost of stability. Turn the props in the opposite
direction and get better stability at the cost of performance.

These aircraft allow you to select the rotation direction of the
props?

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

On Fri, 01 Dec 2006 07:43:40 +0100, Mxsmanic wrote:

Capt.Doug writes:

Not mentioned by other posters is that stability in twins can be affected by
which way the props rotate. The P-38 Lightning and Ted Smith Aerostar are
examples of this. Counter-rotate the props one way and get better
performance at the cost of stability. Turn the props in the opposite
direction and get better stability at the cost of performance.

These aircraft allow you to select the rotation direction of the
props?

No, different models of the same aircraft turned the engines different ways.
For example:

First P-38: http://p-38online.com/images/xp381.jpg

Second P-38: http://p-38online.com/images/yp38grnd.jpg

Look at the direction of rotation of the port engine.

Ron Wanttaja