  thumb|300px|contra-rotating propellers on number 38, the p 51xr mustang n6wj precious metal reno air race 2014   aircraft equipped with contra-rotating propellers, also referred to as crp, coaxial contra-rotating propellers, or high-speed propellers, apply the maximum power of usually a single piston or turboprop engine to drive two propellers in contra-rotation (rotation about the same axis in opposite directions). two propellers are arranged one behind the other, and power is transferred from the engine via a planetary gear or spur gear transmission. contra-rotating propellers should not be confused with counter-rotating propellersâairscrews on separate shafts turning opposite directions. == operation== when airspeed is low, the mass of the air flowing through the propeller disk (thrust) causes a significant amount of tangential or rotational air flow to be created by the spinning blades. the energy of this tangential air flow is wasted in a single-propeller design. to use this wasted effort the placement of a second propeller behind the first takes advantage of the disturbed airflow. the tangential air flow also causes handling problems at low speed as the air strikes the vertical stabilizer, causing the aircraft to yaw left or right, depending of the direction of propeller rotation. if it is well designed, a contra-rotating propeller will have no rotational air flow, pushing a maximum amount of air uniformly through the propeller disk, resulting in high performance and low induced energy loss. it also serves to counter the asymmetrical torque effect of a conventional propeller (see p-factor). some contra-rotating systems were designed to be used at take off for maximum power and efficiency under such conditions, and allowing one of the propellers to be disabled during cruise to extend flight time ==advantages and disadvantages== contra-rotating propellers have been found to be between 6% and 16% more efficient than normal propellers.ftp://ftp.clarkson.edu/.depts/mae/public_html/papers/vanderover.pdf however they can be very noisy, w
Aircraft_configurations Aircraft_engines Propellers