German Prop Pitch Lever

[Siegfried]

In Bf109 pitch control is electric. A battery maybe control it while engine is not running...

[Strike]

The search is on...

[Blackdog_kt]

Yup, the flywheels and hydraulic assemblies are used in the governors of constant speed props. The 109 doesn't have a CSP, it uses an electric motor that directly commands changes to the pitch angle instead of commanding the desired RPM directly.

[Sternjaeger II]

yep, but it would need a battery and I suppose it would only be used for the startup, not for adjusting prop pitch before turning the engine on. Then again wasn't the 109 hand started normally?

[Strike]

Originally Posted by Blackdog_kt

Yup, the flywheels and hydraulic assemblies are used in the governors of constant speed props. The 109 doesn't have a CSP, it uses an electric motor that directly commands changes to the pitch angle instead of commanding the desired RPM directly.

Actually I seem to have found the answer, looking for a while now.

The 109 seems to have the system built like this, using VDM License-built Hamilton Standard propellers:


Pitch lever (electric) controls a motor (electric) which drives a pump (hydraulic) that changes propeller pitch.

So, while some planes have a hydraulic pump fitted on the engine gearbox with a mechanical link between the prop pitch lever and the command-link in the prop pitch governor, the 109 does not. It has a closed system which indeed is a lot less vulnerable in combat. Seeing that the possibility to lose your engine is always present in combat, it would be favourable to have prop pitch independent from the engine

I think this is the conclusion to my question at least