Why does the C-130 military transport plane use propellers instead of jet engines?
In: Engineering
Because propellers are more efficient at slow speeds than jetse engines.
Jet engines are also very sensitive to Foreign Object Damage (FOD) where dust, debris etc gets sucked into the engines on a dirty runway.
Propellers have no such concerns.
Also, you may not be aware, but there are two different types of prop driven planes.
Those with reciprocating piston engines similar in principal to what you’d find in a car, and those with turbine engines which we call turbo-props.
A turbo-prop is just a propeller that is connected by a shaft to the main shaft of what is basically just a jet engine. It’s just that instead of using the hot gas ejected out the back of the turbine for thrust, you use a propeller instead.
(Helicopters use the same principal).
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