3 ms·
How much of a prop plane's noise is from its propeller vs its engine?
by Antipode 6y ago
How much of a prop plane's noise is from its propeller vs its engine?
- nickff 6y agoThis varies extremely widely depending on engine selection and propeller design. Urban air mobility vehicles are also very likely to be loudest during vertical take-off and landing, which is not comparable to a conventional small aircraft.
- jillesvangurp 6y agoDepends on the size of the propeller. The main issue is the tip of the propeller breaking the sound barrier. This limits the RPM. Bigger propellers mean more noise at lower RPM. Smaller propellers enable higher RPM. So the noise profile of a plane with smaller, faster propellers and engines is going to be very different from a big noisy helicopter where you can clearly hear the engine over the already substantial noise of the very loud propeller. Faster also means the noise is of a higher frequency and carries less far. Comparatively the engine noise for electrical engines is not going to be a factor. Think of the noise level of your vacuum cleaner; most of which is in fact the spinning blade inside hitting a few thousand rpm; 3-5K is pretty common for vacuum cleaners. Dysons apparently go way beyond that. A typical Cessna would max out at around 2700 RPM and be cruising at around 2200.