the turbo fan and the turboprop are the two main engines that power commercial
aircraft and they have a lot in common but I'm going to explain the differences
coming up hey 74 Crew what's going on if you don't know me my name is Kelsey
I'm a 747 pilot my channel 74 gear is all about aviation so whether you're a
pilot or an aviation enthusiast consider subscribing if you haven't watched the
earlier video that I did explain you how the core of a jet engine works I'm gonna
put that link in the description below watch that or this video won't make too
much sense breaking down the comparison between a
turboprop and a turbofan is simple now that you understand how the core of a
jet engine is working to recap what I explained in that earlier video in this
stage of the core engine yet air is getting sucked and compressed in this
stage the compressed air is being introduced to fuel and a spark to create
an explosion which goes at the back of the jet engine the back of the jet
engine turns these fans in the back which also in turn turns the fans on the
front of the engine which compressed more air and continue the cycle and
again this engine by itself would be called a turbo jet engine which is not
how your commercial aircraft work first I'm going to explain how a turboprop
works and later it will make sense why this is a jet stream 32 this is the
first model of turbine aircraft that I flew I was super excited because I was
finally flying a multi-engine turbine aircraft I remember the first time I
walked up to it I thought wow this is so big that's what she said and now I could
probably fit 10 of those in a 747 the engines of a turboprop worked based on
the exact same core principles of what I explained earlier on how a jet engine
works here is the inlet of where the air is going into the engine on a jet stream
and this is the exhaust section where the air is actually leaving the engine
so the first two stages of this engine work exactly like a turbojet engine
which I explained earlier the difference is when the air is actually
going out the back of the engine it doesn't use air to propel itself
forward what it does is it turns these additional fans in the back
these fans are on a separate shaft that drive the propeller on the front of the
plane that you're seeing so instead of air propelling you forward that air is
driving these fans which is driving the propeller which is pulling the aircraft
forward if you remember the Sully video that I did a few months ago where I
talked about eating a bird just as we were coming in to land that bird was
able to make it through that propeller and into that tiny little Inlet to this
day I have no idea how that bird was able to miss the propeller and get into
that small little hole while it was flying talk about a rotten day now a
turbofan is generally what you're seeing on most commercial aircraft if you've
flown on a Boeing or if you've flown on an Airbus you've flown on a turbofan
aircraft this is a diagram of the turbofan that you see on most commercial
aircraft side-by-side this section of the diagram is actually this section of
the engine that you see and this section of the diagram is actually this section
of the engine this large fan that you see on the front of the engine is
working exactly like a propeller on a turboprop and this section of the engine
is working exactly like a turbojet so it's getting the best of both worlds as
the air is leaving the back of a turbine engine it is driving the fans that
compress more air it is also driving this fan on the front just like a
turboprop and it is propelling the plane forward so as that explosion goes out
the back is pushing the plane forward and driving two different sets of fan
blades to suck in more air and use that front fan as a propeller that air from
the propeller on the front is going outside the core of the engine and it's
making a much more fuel-efficient engine especially at lower altitudes this type
of engine is called a turbofan engine or a high-bypass turbofan engine the term
high-bypass is definitely a turn you're going to
want to know if you're a pilot especially if you're going from a piston
to a turbine engine because that is something that they may ask you in the
interview this is a picture of the 747 - eight general electric engines it's
something that I pulled off of my Instagram if you follow me on Instagram
you know that I love these engines I think they look so cool they're also
very very fuel-efficient the other nice thing is that because they are so large
it allows me to take a picture of it and show you the different parts and how
they work in real life in this photo here you're seeing looking back from the
back of the engine forward that fan that you see at the very far end of the
picture is actually the fan that you see when you're looking at the front of the
aircraft the air that's going from that fan is actually going on the outside of
the core of the engine which is right here and that air that's going outside
the core of that engine is actually working exactly like a propeller which I
talked about earlier and the air that's going out of the core from right here is
using the thrust that's being created from the explosion to push the aircraft
forward so you're having two different ways that the aircraft is actually being
propelled forward I'm learning so much this is exactly what I need I remember
from back in my days when I was flying turboprop aircraft that people were
nervous people often associate propellers with lack of reliability in
the comments section below I want you to let me know now that you understand how
similar a turboprop is to a turbofan are you gonna feel more comfortable flying
on a turboprop aircraft I look forward to hearing from you until then keep the
blue side up