Fastest Propeller-driven Aircraft - Propeller Versus Jet Propulsion

Propeller Versus Jet Propulsion

Aircraft that use propellers as their prime propulsion device constitute a historically important subset of aircraft, despite inherent limitations to their speed. Aircraft powered by piston engines get virtually all of their thrust from the propeller driven by the engine (a few piston engined aircraft derive some thrust from the engine's exhaust gases). All aircraft prior to World War II (except for a tiny number of early jet aircraft and rocket aircraft) used piston engines to drive propellers, so all Flight airspeed records prior to 1944 were necessarily set by propeller-driven aircraft. Rapid advances in jet engine technology during World War II meant that no propeller-driven aircraft would ever again hold an absolute air speed record. Shock wave formation in propeller-driven aircraft at speeds near sonic conditions, impose limits not encountered in jet aircraft.

Jet engines, particularly turbojets, are a type of gas turbine configured such that most of the work available results from the thrust of the hot exhaust gases. High bypass turbofans that are used in all modern commercial jetliners, and most modern military aircraft, get most of their thrust from the internal fan, which is powered by a gas turbine; turboprop engines are similar, but use an external propeller rather than an internal fan. The hot exhaust gas from a turboprop engine can give a small amount of thrust, but the propeller is the main source of thrust.