4 ms·

Everything I've read talks about the potential for damage to jet engines. Does that extend to turbo-prop engines ? I know they fly slower, but in a real emerge

• v4us 17y ago
  Turbo-prop is in the same danger (TURBO means they use turbine) Piston engines looks to be in safter zone. And prolly we can use it.
  • stan_rogers 17y ago
    Piston engines are just as vulnerable, the only difference being that the failure mode (scouring versus glassing) is slower, so there's a somewhat better chance of survival. As for the original question, current commercial and military cargo aircraft don't use "jet" engines anymore, they use turbofans, where the vast majority of the thrust comes from a ducted fan at the front of the engine rather than from heated and accelerated exhaust gas. The main differences between turboprop and turbofan configurations are (1) the duct, which allows far more efficient high-speed airflow at the expense of low-speed (near-static) thrust, and (2) the variable pitch and "eddy wall" (in which the turbulence of the propeller wash creates a virtual surface behind the propeller, allowing greater pressure to build up) of the propeller (as opposed to a fan), which provide a huge advantage in short takeoff and landing.