Home >> Hobbies >> Aviation

Types of Aircraft Engines

During the course of the twentieth century, air travel evolved into what it is today, an indispensable form of transportation. Crucial in industry and national defense as well, speed and efficiency have been important factors in the evolution of this technology. From early combustion engines to later European advancements in jet-engine technology, the aircraft engine has evolved into a necessary tool of modern life.

Reciprocating Engines
- These internal-combustion engines use pistons to power the cylinders and thus to turn propellers. This early model of aircraft engine was first used in the famous Wright brothers' flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in 1903. This type of engine has been outpaced by other more efficient technologies, but is still used in many small private and antique planes.
Gas Turbine Jet Engine
- Developed in Europe during World War II, the gas turbine is the most commonly used jet engine in commercial aviation. This engine type uses the oxygen from the surrounding atmosphere for combustion of the fuel, creating heated exhaust that creates thrust when forced through a nozzle. This is why jet aircraft cannot travel outside the atmosphere and into space.
Turboprop Jet Engine
- Like the early internal-combustion plane engine, the turboprop airplane uses propellers, but adds jet-engine technology. Small transport and commuter aircraft often use this type of engine. Since the efficiency of propellers decreases as speed increases, their use is limited to slow-moving aircraft such as cargo planes. A variation of this engine type is the turboshaft engine, which is used for many helicopters.
Rocket Engine
- The rocket engine, unlike a jet engine, carries its supply of oxygen with it, so it can operate even in outer space. A rocket engine requires the use of a propellant -- a mixture of an oxidizer and a fuel. Burning up the propellant and expelling the resulting gas creates the thrust necessary to move the aircraft.

Aviation