eli5 why does the ac-130 have propellers instead of jet engines?
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Think of the way a plane engine produces speed. Both propellers and jet engines take air and push it back quickly. However jets take a smaller amount of air and accelerate it really fast. Propellers take a much larger amount of air but they don’t accelerate it as fast. Since propeller doesn’t need to spin as fast it doesn’t need to consume as much fuel per running time.
Most importantly for a military transport though, a propeller engine requires far less maintenance per flight hour vs a jet. This means less down time and less cost for a plane that is doing a lot more long distance flying.
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