Simviation Forums

Okay, last one.  Which engine type do you like!  My favorite is the radial (see sig for proof)

Whatever type is on the airplane I'm in.....  :)

Nothing better than a sexy six-blade prop attached to a turboprop engine.

13 blades on a coaxial twin axle turboprop

5 blades on a Bristol Centaurus for me...

Turbofan! Can't beat a bit (or a lot) of noise

Rocket! But I'm not sure if you can call that an engine type. 'Propulsion system' would fit better here me thinks...

Good old low-bypass turbofans with afterburner. Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100, the engines on the F/A-22.

Well someone has to plump for the good old rotary engine. I've seen quite a few in action & they make a very satisfying noise. Fascinating & I still can't believe that they actually work.

Could someone give examples of aircraft with each of these engines? I'm sure a few people (me included) aren't sure of what a few of them are used on...

Could someone give examples of aircraft with each of these engines? I'm sure a few people (me included) aren't sure of what a few of them are used on...

Rotary engines were used by many WW1 types, i.e. Sopwith Snipe, Strutter, Camel, Pup ...  Fokker E-1 through D-6, Dr.1, D-8 ....  Nieuports (through the N.28), etc.

Go to Old Warden in Bedfordshire and see rotaries in action in the Sopwith Pup, Sopwith Triplane and Bristol M1C...

Go to Old Warden in Bedfordshire and see rotaries in action in the Sopwith Pup, Sopwith Triplane and Bristol M1C...

Not forgetting the Avro 504K & a few more besides. Here's the 80 hp 9-cylinder Le Rhone rotary in the Sopwith Pup. On rotary engines the crankshaft is fixed to the aircraft & the whole crankcase & cylinders spin round with the prop.


The 18-cylinder Bristol Centaurus supercharged sleeve-valved radial of about 2,500 hp as fitted to the Hawker Sea Fury. The cylinders are arranged in two rows of 9.


Bad shot of the 2,400 hp 24-cylinder Napier Sabre used in the Hawker Typhoon & Tempest. This is a liquid-cooled inline sleeve-valved engine with the 4 rows of 6 cylinders arranged in an H section. Rather like two big Lycoming or Continental horizontally opposed engines fitted one on top of the other.


Last but not least the Rolls-Royce Merlin*, probably the most famous piston engine of all time. 12-cylinder Vee liquid-cooled inline with supercharger at the rear end. I'm not sure which mark this is but Ozzy will probably know. Could be anything between 1,000 & 2,030 hp.


Any excuse to post some photos.

*PS. I hope it's a Merlin & not a Griffon. I'm no engine man.

A few more....

A few more....

Notice that once you get into the turbines - turbojet, turbofan, propjet, the main difference is the "main" propulsion.

In a pure turbojet, all the thrust is obtained by the hot gases being expelled.

In a turbofan, a large part of the thrust is obtained by the action of the fan.  This will generally be the first row of rotating blades.  The high-bypass ratio turbofans  have the largest fans.  A benefit is that the high volume of air helps cool the rest of the hardware as it's forced along the nacelle.

Turboprops get practically all the thrust from the propellors.

Then you get into prop-fans ...  which can be considered a turbofan with an unshrouded fan.