Aircraft engine

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Aero-engine" redirects here. For the use of aircraft engines in cars, see Aero-
engined car.

A Rolls-Royce Merlin installed in a

preserved Avro York

Part of a series on

Aircraft propulsion

Shaft engines:
 driving propellers, rotors, ducted fans or propfans

 Internal thermal engines:

o Piston engine

 Diesel engine
o Wankel engine

o Turbines:

 Turboprop

 Turboshaft
 External thermal engines:
o Steam power

 Electric motors:
o Electric aircraft

 Clockwork drives:
o Human-powered

Reaction engines
 Turbines:
o Turbojet

o Turbofan

o Propfan

 Rocket-powered
o Air turborocket

o Air-augmented rocket

 Motorjet

 Pulsejet
o Valveless pulsejet

o Gluhareff Pressure Jet

 Aerospike engine

 Pulse detonation engine

 Rotating detonation engine

 Ramjet
o Scramjet

o Shcramjet

 v
 t
 e

An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the power component of

an aircraft propulsion system. Aircraft using power components are referred to
as powered flight.[1] Most aircraft engines are either piston engines or gas turbines,
although a few have been rocket powered and in recent years many
small UAVs have used electric motors.
Manufacturing industry[edit]
See also: List of aircraft engines
In commercial aviation the major Western manufacturers of turbofan engines
are Pratt & Whitney (a subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies), General
Electric, Rolls-Royce, and CFM International (a joint venture of Safran Aircraft
Engines and General Electric). Russian manufacturers include the United Engine
Corporation, Aviadvigatel and Klimov. Aeroengine Corporation of China was formed
in 2016 with the merger of several smaller companies.[2]
The largest manufacturer of turboprop engines for general aviation is Pratt &
Whitney.[3] General Electric announced in 2015 entrance into the market.[3]
Development history[edit]

Wright vertical 4-cylinder engine

See also: Timeline of jet power

 1848: John Stringfellow made a steam engine for a 10-foot wingspan

model aircraft which achieved the first powered flight, albeit with negligible
payload.
 1903: Charlie Taylor built an inline engine, mostly of aluminum, for
the Wright Flyer (12 horsepower).
 1903: Manly-Balzer engine sets standards for later radial engines.[4]
 1906: Léon Levavasseur produces a successful water-cooled V8
engine for aircraft use.
 1908: René Lorin patents a design for the ramjet engine.
 1908: Louis Seguin designed the Gnome Omega, the world's first rotary
engine to be produced in quantity. In 1909 a Gnome powered Farman
III aircraft won the prize for the greatest non-stop distance flown at the
Reims Grande Semaine d'Aviation setting a world record for endurance of
180 kilometres (110 mi).
 1910: Coandă-1910, an unsuccessful ducted fan aircraft exhibited at Paris
Aero Salon, powered by a piston engine. The aircraft never flew, but a
patent was filed for routing exhaust gases into the duct to augment thrust. [5]
[6][7][8]

 1914: Auguste Rateau suggests using exhaust-powered compressor –

a turbocharger – to improve high-altitude performance;[4] not accepted after
the tests[9]
  1917-18: The Idflieg-numbered R.30/16 example of the Imperial
German Luftstreitkräfte's Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI heavy bomber becomes
the earliest known supercharger-equipped aircraft to fly, with a Mercedes
D.II straight-six engine in the central fuselage driving a Brown-Boveri
mechanical supercharger for the R.30/16's four Mercedes D.IVa engines.
 1918: Sanford Alexander Moss picks up Rateau's idea and creates the
first successful turbocharger[4][10]
 1926: Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar IV (S), the first series-produced
supercharged engine for aircraft use;[11][nb 1] two-row radial with a gear-
driven centrifugal supercharger.
 1930: Frank Whittle submitted his first patent for a turbojet engine.
 June 1939: Heinkel He 176 is the first successful aircraft to fly powered
solely by a liquid-fueled rocket engine.
 August 1939: Heinkel HeS 3 turbojet propels the pioneering
German Heinkel He 178 aircraft.
 1940: Jendrassik Cs-1, the world's first run of a turboprop engine. It is not
put into service.
 1943 Daimler-Benz DB 670, first turbofan runs
 1944: Messerschmitt Me 163B Komet, the world's first rocket-propelled
combat aircraft deployed.
 1945: First turboprop-powered aircraft flies, a modified Gloster Meteor with
two Rolls-Royce Trent engines.
 1947: Bell X-1 rocket-propelled aircraft exceeds the speed of sound.
 1948: 100 shp 782, the first turboshaft engine to be applied to aircraft use;
in 1950 used to develop the larger 280 shp (210 kW) Turbomeca Artouste.
 1949: Leduc 010, the world's first ramjet-powered aircraft flight.
 1950: Rolls-Royce Conway, the world's first production turbofan, enters
service.
 1968: General Electric TF39 high bypass turbofan enters service
delivering greater thrust and much better efficiency.
 2002: HyShot scramjet flew in dive.
 2004: NASA X-43, the first scramjet to maintain altitude.
 2020: Pipistrel E-811 is the first electric aircraft engine to be awarded a
type certificate by EASA. It powers the Pipistrel Velis Electro, the first fully
electric EASA type-certified aeroplane.[12]
Shaft engines[edit]
Reciprocating (piston) engines[edit]
Main article: reciprocating engine
In-line engine[edit]
Main article: Straight engine
 Ranger L-440 air-cooled, six-cylinder, inverted, in-line
engine used in Fairchild PT-19
In this section, for clarity, the term "inline engine" refers only to engines with a single
row of cylinders, as used in automotive language, but in aviation terms, the phrase
"inline engine" also covers V-type and opposed engines (as described below), and is
not limited to engines with a single row of cylinders. This is typically to differentiate
them from radial engines.
A straight engine typically has an even number of cylinders, but there are instances
of three- and five-cylinder engines. The greatest advantage of an inline engine is that
it allows the aircraft to be designed with a low frontal area to minimize drag. If the
engine crankshaft is located above the cylinders, it is called an inverted inline
engine: this allows the propeller to be mounted high up to increase ground
clearance, enabling shorter landing gear. The disadvantages of an inline engine
include a poor power-to-weight ratio, because the crankcase and crankshaft are long
and thus heavy. An in-line engine may be either air-cooled or liquid-cooled, but
liquid-cooling is more common because it is difficult to get enough air-flow to cool the
rear cylinders directly.
Inline engines were common in early aircraft; one was used in the Wright Flyer, the
aircraft that made the first controlled powered flight. However, the inherent
disadvantages of the design soon became apparent, and the inline design was
abandoned, becoming a rarity in modern aviation.
For other configurations of aviation inline engine, such as X-engines, U-engines, H-
engines, etc., see Inline engine (aeronautics).
V-type engine[edit]

A Rolls-Royce Merlin V-12 Engine

Main article: V engine
Cylinders in this engine are arranged in two in-line banks, typically tilted 60–90
degrees apart from each other and driving a common crankshaft. The vast majority
of V engines are water-cooled. The V design provides a higher power-to-weight ratio
than an inline engine, while still providing a small frontal area. Perhaps the most
famous example of this design is the legendary Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, a 27-litre
(1649 in3) 60° V12 engine used in, among others, the Spitfires that played a major
role in the Battle of Britain.
Horizontally opposed engine[edit]
Main article: Flat engine

A ULPower UL260i horizontally opposed air-cooled

aero engine
A horizontally opposed engine, also called a flat or boxer engine, has two banks of
cylinders on opposite sides of a centrally located crankcase. The engine is either air-
cooled or liquid-cooled, but air-cooled versions predominate. Opposed engines are
mounted with the crankshaft horizontal in airplanes, but may be mounted with the
crankshaft vertical in helicopters. Due to the cylinder layout, reciprocating forces tend
to cancel, resulting in a smooth running engine. Opposed-type engines have high
power-to-weight ratios because they have a comparatively small, lightweight
crankcase. In addition, the compact cylinder arrangement reduces the engine's
frontal area and allows a streamlined installation that minimizes aerodynamic drag.
These engines always have an even number of cylinders, since a cylinder on one
side of the crankcase "opposes" a cylinder on the other side.
Opposed, air-cooled four- and six-cylinder piston engines are by far the most
common engines used in small general aviation aircraft requiring up to 400
horsepower (300 kW) per engine. Aircraft that require more than 400 horsepower
(300 kW) per engine tend to be powered by turbine engines.
H configuration engine[edit]
Main article: H engine
An H configuration engine is essentially a pair of horizontally opposed engines
placed together, with the two crankshafts geared together.
Radial engine[edit]

A Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engine

Main article: Radial engine
This type of engine has one or more rows of cylinders arranged around a centrally
located crankcase. Each row generally has an odd number of cylinders to produce
smooth operation. A radial engine has only one crank throw per row and a relatively
small crankcase, resulting in a favorable power-to-weight ratio. Because the cylinder
arrangement exposes a large amount of the engine's heat-radiating surfaces to the
air and tends to cancel reciprocating forces, radials tend to cool evenly and run
smoothly. The lower cylinders, which are under the crankcase, may collect oil when
the engine has been stopped for an extended period. If this oil is not cleared from the
cylinders prior to starting the engine, serious damage due to hydrostatic lock may
occur.
Most radial engines have the cylinders arranged evenly around the crankshaft,
although some early engines, sometimes called semi-radials or fan configuration
engines, had an uneven arrangement. The best known engine of this type is the
Anzani engine, which was fitted to the Bleriot XI used for the first flight across
the English Channel in 1909. This arrangement had the drawback of needing a
heavy counterbalance for the crankshaft, but was used to avoid the spark
plugs oiling up.
In military aircraft designs, the large frontal area of the engine acted as an extra layer
of armor for the pilot. Also air-cooled engines, without vulnerable radiators, are
slightly less prone to battle damage, and on occasion would continue running even
with one or more cylinders shot away. However, the large frontal area also resulted
in an aircraft with an aerodynamically inefficient increased frontal area.
Rotary engine[edit]

Le Rhone 9C rotary aircraft engine

Main article: Rotary engine
Rotary engines have the cylinders in a circle around the crankcase, as in a radial
engine, (see above), but the crankshaft is fixed to the airframe and the propeller is
fixed to the engine case, so that the crankcase and cylinders rotate. The advantage
of this arrangement is that a satisfactory flow of cooling air is maintained even at low
airspeeds, retaining the weight advantage and simplicity of a conventional air-cooled
engine without one of their major drawbacks. The first practical rotary engine was
the Gnome Omega designed by the Seguin brothers and first flown in 1909. Its
relative reliability and good power to weight ratio changed aviation
dramatically. [13] Before the first World War most speed records were gained using
Gnome-engined aircraft, and in the early years of the war rotary engines were
dominant in aircraft types for which speed and agility were paramount. To increase
power, engines with two rows of cylinders were built.
However, the gyroscopic effects of the heavy rotating engine produced handling
problems in aircraft and the engines also consumed large amounts of oil since they
used total loss lubrication, the oil being mixed with the fuel and ejected with the
exhaust gases. Castor oil was used for lubrication, since it is not soluble in petrol,
and the resultant fumes were nauseating to the pilots. Engine designers had always
been aware of the many limitations of the rotary engine so when the static style
engines became more reliable and gave better specific weights and fuel
consumption, the days of the rotary engine were numbered.
Wankel engine[edit]
Main article: Wankel engine

Powerplant from a Schleicher ASH 26e self-launching motor

glider, removed from the glider and mounted on a test stand for maintenance at
the Alexander Schleicher GmbH & Co in Poppenhausen, Germany. Counter-
clockwise from top left: propeller hub, mast with belt guide, radiator, Wankel engine,
muffler shroud.
The Wankel is a type of rotary engine. The Wankel engine is about one half the
weight and size of a traditional four-stroke cycle piston engine of equal power output,
and much lower in complexity. In an aircraft application, the power-to-weight ratio is
very important, making the Wankel engine a good choice. Because the engine is
typically constructed with an aluminium housing and a steel rotor, and aluminium
expands more than steel when heated, a Wankel engine does not seize when
overheated, unlike a piston engine. This is an important safety factor for aeronautical
use. Considerable development of these designs started after World War II, but at
the time the aircraft industry favored the use of turbine engines. It was believed
that turbojet or turboprop engines could power all aircraft, from the largest to
smallest designs. The Wankel engine did not find many applications in aircraft, but
was used by Mazda in a popular line of sports cars. The French
company Citroën had developed Wankel powered RE-2 [fr] helicopter in 1970's.[14]
In modern times the Wankel engine has been used in motor gliders where the
compactness, light weight, and smoothness are crucially important.[15]
The now-defunct Staverton-based firm MidWest designed and produced single- and
twin-rotor aero engines, the MidWest AE series. These engines were developed
from the motor in the Norton Classic motorcycle. The twin-rotor version was fitted
into ARV Super2s and the Rutan Quickie. The single-rotor engine was put into
a Chevvron motor glider and into the Schleicher ASH motor-gliders. After the demise
of MidWest, all rights were sold to Diamond of Austria, who have since developed a
MkII version of the engine.
As a cost-effective alternative to certified aircraft engines some Wankel engines,
removed from automobiles and converted to aviation use, have been fitted in
homebuilt experimental aircraft. Mazda units with outputs ranging from 100
horsepower (75 kW) to 300 horsepower (220 kW) can be a fraction of the cost of
traditional engines. Such conversions first took place in the early 1970s;[citation needed] and
as of 10 December 2006 the National Transportation Safety Board has only seven
reports of incidents involving aircraft with Mazda engines, and none of these is of a
failure due to design or manufacturing flaws.
Combustion cycles[edit]
The most common combustion cycle for aero engines is the four-stroke with spark
ignition. Two-stroke spark ignition has also been used for small engines, while the
compression-ignition diesel engine is seldom used.
Starting in the 1930s attempts were made to produce a practical aircraft diesel
engine. In general, Diesel engines are more reliable and much better suited to
running for long periods of time at medium power settings. The lightweight alloys of
the 1930s were not up to the task of handling the much higher compression ratios of
diesel engines, so they generally had poor power-to-weight ratios and were
uncommon for that reason, although the Clerget 14F Diesel radial engine (1939) has
the same power to weight ratio as a gasoline radial. Improvements in Diesel
technology in automobiles (leading to much better power-weight ratios), the Diesel's
much better fuel efficiency and the high relative taxation of AVGAS compared to Jet
A1 in Europe have all seen a revival of interest in the use of diesels for
aircraft. Thielert Aircraft Engines converted Mercedes Diesel automotive engines,
certified them for aircraft use, and became an OEM provider to Diamond Aviation for
their light twin. Financial problems have plagued Thielert, so Diamond's affiliate —
Austro Engine — developed the new AE300 turbodiesel, also based on a Mercedes
engine.[16] Competing new Diesel engines may bring fuel efficiency and lead-free
emissions to small aircraft, representing the biggest change in light aircraft engines
in decades.