I am a maintenance tech at a small but growing company that specializes in L-39s. I don't have my A&P yet becuse I specialize in avionics but I will have it as soon as my time is in. Anyway, since we are starting to get into more GA aircraft and we will be purchasing a small single engine airplane for our own use and training, I want to understand more about how they work which finaly brings me to my question(s)...I know what prop pitch is but not sure how it works. What I mean is, when you have an rpm gauge in the plane, is that prop or engine rpm? I was told it's engine rpm but then in a simulator I adjust the throttle and that rpm stays the same even though the engine is obvioulsy changing rpm. I adjust the prop pitch and the rpm changes. So is this engine or prop rpm? Does it depend on the plane, say either a 182 or a P-51? If I can adjust engine speed with the throttle but prop rpm stays the same, does that mean the prop isn't physicaly attatched to the engine? I pray these questions don't sound too ignorant but most of my aviation experience is with jets so I am not intimately familiar with props.