Aircraft Engine

Lecture 3b: Aircraft Engines
1903- 1940s: Propeller + Piston


Engines
From 1903 (Wright bros.)
Era
until the Early 1940s, all
aircraft used the piston
engine combined with
propeller as their
propulsion system.
 Piston engine is just
similar with car engine
except with several
different.
Piston engine uses the
 A propeller is essentially
a type of fan which energy produced by
transmits power by burning a mixture of air
converting rotational and fuel to drive the
motion into thrust to propeller.
propel the aircraft (move
forward).
3
Piston engine
Main parts
Piston engine
Different configurations of piston engines
5
Piston engine
Examples
Piper PA-28 Cherokee

Engine(s):
- Lycoming piston engine
- 4 cylinders
- 110 hp
Propeller(s):
- 2 blades fixed pitch
Performance:
- Max. speed 127kt
- Operational ceiling 11000 feet
Piston engine
Examples
Antonov AN-2
Engine(s):
-PZL piston engine, RADIAL
-9 cylinders
-1000 hp
Propeller(s):
-4 blades variable pitch
Performance:
-Max. speed 139kt
-Operational ceiling 13000 feet
(approx.)
6
The differences between piston aircraft
engines and car engines
 Crankshaft – The crankshaft in an piston aircraft engine
turns a propeller, crankshaft in car engine is used to move
the wheels of the car.
 Weight – the piston aircraft engine must be lightweight
compare to car engine.
 Power demand to run the engines- the piston aircraft
engine demands high power for very long times compare
to car engines
 Numbers of engine parts - an aircraft engine has at least
two sets for every parts, including ignition system (spark
plugs and magnetos) and fuel pumps compare to car
engine that only have one set.
 Operating environment different- an aircraft engine no
need radiator for air-cooling compare to the car.
Propeller + Piston
Engine Aircraft
 Very efficient for low speed flight.
 Lower load capacity compared to similar sized jet
powered aircraft.
 Consumes less fuel, thus cheaper and much more
economic than jets.
 Quiet, but fly at lower speeds.
 The best option for people who need to transport a
few passengers and/or small amounts of cargo.
 Best choice for pilots who wish to own their own
aircraft.
 Propellers are not used on high speed aircraft.
Jet Engine History
 1931: 1st turbojet engine designed 1930 by Sir

Frank Whittle
 1939: The 1st jet aircraft (Heinkel He 178) was
developed in England and Germany
 1943: The first jet fighter aircraft, Messerschmitt
Me 262 went into service in the German
Luftwaffe.
History of Aircraft Propulsion
 1944 (After World War 2)-Today :
 Airplanes used jet engines to generate thrust.
 Jet engines also referred to as Gas Turbine
Engines.
 Various types (turbo-jet, turbo-prop, turbo-shaft,
turbo-fan , ramjet, scramjet)
 Messerschmitt Me-262 : 1st operational jet-powered
aircraft
 German V-1 bomb (pulse jet engine): 1st application
for military purposes.
 Bell P-59: 1st American aircraft
 MiG-15: 1st Soviet jet aircraft.
Jet Engines
 Jet aircraft make use of turbines for the creation of
thrust.
 Consumes more fuel but provide much more thrust
than a piston engine.
 Fly faster than propeller driven aircraft.
 Greater weight capacity
 Example: Airbus A340 and Boeing 777, can carry
hundreds of passengers and several tons of cargo,
and are able to travel for distances up to 13 thousand
kilometers.
 Noisy, this makes jet aircraft a source of noise
pollution.
Newton's 3rd law
 The theory of jet propulsion is based on the
Newton’s third Law, which state that For every
action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
 When the jet engine is operating, it draws a lot of air

from the front and after air-fuel burns the gas ejects
at high speed.
 During this process, the engine applies force to the

gas and lets the gas accelerate in the backward
direction and in the meantime, the gas also gives the
engine a reactive force to push the aircraft to move
forward.
Turbo-jet Engine Thrust
Newton's 3rd law: For every action there is an equal and

opposite reaction. This is called thrust.
 Inlet- inlet is the opening at the front of engine, it allows the outside air to enter
the engine.
 Compressor – compressor is made up of fans with many blades, it compress the
air and raises the pressure & temperature of the air, the compressed air then is
delivered to the burner.
 Burner – Burning process occur here. Fuel is sprayed to the compressed air .The
mixture of the fuel + air will be burned. The results is heated gas with high energy,
high pressure and high temperature.
 Turbine- turbine used some of the heated gas energy to turn the compressor . This
energy is transferred through the shaft.
 Nozzle- The balance of heated gas energy exits through the nozzle at very high
speed. This causes thrust.
 As the jets of gas shoot backward, the engine and the aircraft are thrust forward.
(Newton 3rd Law)
Turbo-prop Engine
• The propeller located at the front of engine

• The propeller converts the power developed by the
engine into thrust as efficiently as possible under all
operating conditions.
• These aircraft are popular with regional airlines, as
they tend to be more economical on shorter
journeys.
Hercules-1 C130
Turbo-fan Engine
 Similar to the turboprop, except a fan replaces

the turboprop propeller.
 Larger fan at the front provides thrust in the
same way as a propeller.
 The turbofan engine has a front fan, which runs
at the same speed as the compressor and fan
turbine located at the back to drive the fan.
 Most modern airliners use turbofan engines
because of they can produce high thrust, lower
fuel consumption and low engine-noise.
Rocket Engine
 A rocket engine produces thrust by
burning a fuel at high pressure and
exhausting the gas through a nozzle.
 The oxygen for combustion is carried with
the propulsion system.
 High temperatures and pressures is built
up, the are used to accelerate the exhaust
gases through a rocket nozzle to produce
thrust.
 The heavier the rocket , the greater thrust
needed to get it off the ground.
 Newton 3rd Law: “To every action there is 17
an equal and opposite reaction."

Differences between Jet engine
and Rocket engine
Thrust direction
 Jet engine is an engine using jet propulsion for forward
thrust .
 Rocket engine is an engine using jet propulsion for
upward thrust.
Source of oxygen
 Jet engines do not have their own source of oxygen.
Outside air is sucked into the engine to act as an
oxidizer
 There is no air in space. Rockets have their own oxygen
source, either a liquid tank, or mixed in with the solid
fuel for combustion.
Rocket vs Missile
 Purpose
 Rocket mission is to send the satellite to
outer space.
 Missile mission is as a weapon to attack
high value target.
 Guidance
 Rocket no guidance system.
 Missile has a guidance system.

Aircraft Engine

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Aircraft Engine

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Aircraft Engine

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Lecture 3b: Aircraft Engines

1903- 1940s: Propeller + Piston

Piper PA-28 Cherokee

 1931: 1st turbojet engine designed 1930 by Sir

 When the jet engine is operating, it draws a lot of air

 During this process, the engine applies force to the

Newton's 3rd law: For every action there is an equal and

• The propeller located at the front of engine

 Similar to the turboprop, except a fan replaces

an equal and opposite reaction."

You might also like