Aircraft Engine vs Powerplant

Common Engine Types

• The most common form of reciprocating engine today is the inline engine.

Radial Engine

• A radial engine consists of a row, or rows, of cylinders arranged radially about a central crankcase.

V-Type Engine

• A V-type engine has cylinders arranged in two in-line banks set 60° apart.

Historic Engine Types

• The radial engine was used mostly during the second World War and is mostly limited to older aircraft.

Opposed-Type Engine

• The function of an opposed-type engine is to have the cylinders opposing each other on either side of the crankcase.

External Combustion Engine

• The purpose of an external combustion engine is to burn fuel outside the engine, not inside the cylinders.

Engine Mechanics

• The distance the piston travels from its outward limit to its inward limit is known as the stroke.
• 2 strokes are accomplished in 180 degrees of crankshaft rotation.

Engine Definitions

• Heat engines are engines that convert thermal energy into mechanical energy.
• The main requirements for engines are power, efficiency, reliability, and durability.

Aircraft Engines

• The main difference between an aircraft engine and a powerplant is that a powerplant includes the propeller.

Inventors and Innovators

• Thomas Newcomen is often referred to as the inventor of the atmospheric engine.
• Nikolaus August Otto and Gottlieb Daimler introduced gasoline as the fuel burned directly within the cylinders.
• The earliest hand-operated cranks appeared in ancient Greece around 300 BC.
• Ismail AlJazari was from Turkey.
• The Wright brothers are known as the first American plane builders.