Engine Importance

Every part of an airplane is needed for an aircraft to take off, however I feel the most critical system in any aircraft is the powerplant.  No matter what without a powerplant all any aircraft would be is a very expensive paper weight.  Depending on the aircraft there may only be one engine and any type of total engine failure could result in aircraft incident and could potentially lead to death.  With modern day airliners most have two engines which losing both motors is very rare.  In a USA Today, they interviewed pilot John Cox, and when asked about total engine failure he responded "It would vary depending upon the wind, but around 100 miles would be a good estimate.
Having all engines quit in a modern airplane is extremely rare"(John Cox, 2013).




However, if you take a F-16 with a single motor and extremely different aerodynamics compared to an airliner, with total engine failure there is no gliding.  Total engine failure means you have seconds to point the aircraft and eject, if your lucky.  We have seen this before when a F-16 Thunderbird crashed in 2018, when the pilot had total engine failure.  He was fortunate enough to eject in time and have the aircraft crash into a forest near by leaving no casualties.  Not only is losing a motor mean losing power but in some cases could mean losing you cooling air for avionics, losing electricity for the entire aircraft, or losing hydraulics for you flight controls.  This is why I feel the powerplant is the most important system in any aircraft which is why i became a Jet Engine troop in the USAF!

Reference

Cox, J. U. T. (2013, November 24). USA TODAY. USATODAY. https://eu.usatoday.com/story/travel/columnist/cox/2013/11/24/gliding-after-engine-failure-stall-control/3667671/


Comments

  1. Ronnie VandykeDecember 1, 2021 at 10:14 PM

    Great blog! I agree with you that the powerplant is the most important system in an aircraft; everything works around it. In the past I went over our "three banks of power" in aircraft. If you aren't familiar its kinetic (as it relates to airspeed), potential (relating to altitude), and the last being engine power. If you lose either kinetic or potential you can (in most cases then not) use your engine power to get out of that situation. Like you said though, if you lose your engine you can't escape those other conditions very well or at all.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Emily DetlaffDecember 2, 2021 at 4:23 AM

    Hi Ian,
    I really enjoyed reading your post! The quote that you included from Cox was very interesting, I didn't know about the 100-mile estimate before. I do agree with your opinion on the Powerplant though, it is VERY important. Creating thrust from the power is something that is definitely necessary to fly, without it flight would be very limited if not nonexistent in some aircraft. In ways the Powerplant allows us to 'escape the pulls of Mother Nature.'
    Great post!

    ReplyDelete

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