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.