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Car horsepower and airplane horsepower are very different things. A car engine has to be able to maintain peak power output for a few seconds while acceleratin
by NickNameNick 6y ago
Car horsepower and airplane horsepower are very different things.
A car engine has to be able to maintain peak power output for a few seconds while accelerating. maybe a few seconds, unless you're towing a load up a hill or something.
On level ground you're using a small but variable amount of your available power.
An airplane engine has to maintain peak power for the entire climb-out, and a substantial fraction of that for cruising for hours at a time.
- userbinator 6y agounless you're towing a load up a hill or something This reminds me of how a lot of people are surprised when they find out the engine of a typical semi-truck has "only" a few hundred HP but several times the displacement of a passenger car engine rated at almost the same power. The car engine will wear out quickly at continuous full load, whereas the semi engine is designed to run at full load continuously. Ditto for engines driving generators and pumps --- full load is normal load.