NOT QUITE A PROP, NOT QUITE A JET:
BY JAME S CARE L E S S
turboprop engines deliver highly reliable performance and are more fuel-efficient than jets. This is why turboprop engines can be found on many commuter airliners, such as the ATR-72, Bombardier Q400, and Fokker F27. Turboprops are also being used in aircraft as large as the Airbus A400M four engine military transport, and as small as the Cessna Caravan with its single Pratt & Whitney PT6 engine. For MROs, turboprops represent a market opportunity. But
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companies without experience in this engine sector would be wise to do their homework first, because the turboprop requires its own special approach.
Te Different World of Turboprop Engine Maintenance
46 Aviation Maintenance |
avmain-mag.com | October / November 2011
What Makes Turboprops Different for MROs The turboprop engine can trace its roots back to 1930, when the British engineer Frank Whittle patented the turboprop design. The first working model was the Jendrassik Cs-1. Designed by Hungarian engineer György Jendrassik in 1939, the Cs-1 was tested in 1940 but experienced problems reaching its design horsepower. Rolls-Royce went on to develope the RB50 turboprop engine. A
pair of RB50s was fitted to a Gloster Meteor, for what is believed to have been the first-ever turboprop-powered flight on October 20, 1945. Turboprops were subsequently used on the Vickers Viscount airliner, and the venerable Hercules C-130 transport aircraft. Honeywell got into the turboprop market when it merged with
Allied-Signal in 1999. As part of the deal, Honeywell began producing the Garrett AiResearch TPE331 turboprop. Developed in 1961 by Garrett AiResearch (which eventually became part of Allied Signal), the TPE331 has been used in the Cessna Skymaster, Piper Cheyenne 400 and Short SC.7 Skyvan. Pratt & Whitney Canada’s famous PT6A was the company’s first entry into the turboprop arena. Ranging in power from 500 shp
ith their mix of propeller and jet engine technologies, turboprop engines are a breed of their own. By using jet engine-style gas turbines to drive their propellers,
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