6 ms·

The issues of propfans isn't just a comparison of fuel efficiency. There is also considerations of noise, efficiency at various altitudes, safety (turbofan cowl

• dogma1138 5y ago
  Bird strike with that engine seems to be pretty darn scary. I also wonder just how much efficiency these can provide over high bypass turbines.
  • eloff 5y ago
    It seems scary, but does anything change? The cowling only offers protection from the side. How many birds hit from the side at that velocity?
    • nieve 5y ago
      The cowling also provides containment of parts that happen to go ballistic.
      • profile53 5y ago
        To elaborate, the big benefit is that they keep pieces of the fan blade and engine from cutting through the body of the plane at close to the speed of sound. It’s happened before and is not pretty. See: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_Flight_232 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_Flight_232
        • eloff 5y ago
          That's a good point.