| CPC B64C 27/473 (2013.01) [D04C 1/12 (2013.01); D04C 3/48 (2013.01)] | 11 Claims |

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1. A method of applying a braided cover to a core, the method comprising:
braiding a plurality of tows around the core from a plurality of bobbins to form the braided cover,
wherein one or more properties of the tow on a respective bobbin varies along the length of the tow;
wherein the core is the core of a propeller blade and the number of fibres in the tow, the tow diameter or the linear weight of the tow decreases towards a tip region of the core;
wherein the variation of the one or more properties of the tow on a respective bobbin along the length of the tow has the result that the properties of the braided cover are tailored to a particular position on the core and there is no excess braided cover along the length of the propeller core.
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