Definition
A propeller blade angle in which the blades are rotated to take a larger 'bite' of air per revolution. In a fixed-shaft turboprop, high pitch is used at higher airspeeds and cruise settings, where the larger blade angle converts engine power into thrust efficiently while keeping propeller RPM within limits.
Plain English
The propeller blades are turned so they slice through the air at a steeper angle, grabbing a bigger chunk of air with each rotation. This setting is used when the airplane is flying faster, like in cruise.
Context Anchor
Seen in turboprop propeller discussions, especially when describing how blade angle changes to control power and propeller speed.
Derivation
Pitch' originally referred to the distance a screw advances in one full turn. A propeller works the same way — at high pitch, each rotation pulls the airplane forward a greater distance through the air, just like a coarse-threaded screw.
Why Pilots Care
Selecting the correct pitch keeps the engine and propeller within their operating limits while producing the right thrust for the phase of flight. Wrong pitch at the wrong time can overspeed the engine, waste fuel, or rob the airplane of performance.
Analogy
A high-pitch propeller is like a screw with widely spaced threads: each turn tries to move farther forward, so it takes more force to turn.
Intuition Check
Do not read pitch here as aircraft nose attitude or sound. In this context, pitch means the angle of the propeller blades and how much air they try to move with each turn.
Example Sentence 1
As the airplane accelerated into cruise, the propeller shifted to high pitch to maintain efficient thrust without overspeeding.
Example Sentence 2
In high pitch the fixed-shaft engine maintains torque at reduced RPM for better fuel economy.