With most commercial aircrafts using turbofan engines which makes it faster. Why do a portion of military planes still uses propeller engines? I think the C-130 is the best example.
In: Engineering
The C-130 is a roughly 70 year old airplane. At the time when it was designed, the large, highly efficient turbofans that power our commercial airliners didn’t yet exist.
Other commenters have pointed out several other good reasons (such as efficiency at low speed/low altitude) to pick turboprop engines for similar roles. The Airbus A400 is a contemporary example. One reason that hasn’t been mentioned yet is that turboprop engines are typically more tolerant of sandy/dusty environments versus turbofans.
For smaller “general aviation” aircraft like a Cessna 172, the reason they’re still propeller-powered is two-fold: jet engines are much more expensive and maintenance intensive than radial/cylinder engines that produce similar amounts of thrust, and small jet engines are also EXTREMELY inefficient for the amount of thrust that they produce.
Latest Answers