A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller.
The Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 is a turboprop aircraft engine produced by Pratt & Whitney Canada. Its design was started in 1958, it first ran in February 1960, first flew on 30 May 1961, entered service in 1964, and has been continuously updated since. The PT6 consists of two basic sections: a gas generator with accessory gearbox, and a free-power turbine with reduction gearbox. In aircraft, the engine is often mounted "backwards," with the intake at the rear and the exhaust at the front, so that the turbine is directly connected to the propeller. Many variants of the PT6 have been produced, not only as turboprops but also as turboshaft engines for helicopters, land vehicles, hovercraft, and boats; as auxiliary power units; and for industrial uses. By November 2015, 51,000 had been produced, which had logged 400 million flight hours from 1963 to 2016. It is known for its reliability, with an in-flight shutdown rate of 1 per 651,126 hours in 2016. The PT6A turboprop engine covers the power range between 580 and 1,940 shp, while the PT6B/C are turboshaft variants for helicopters.
A turboshaft engine is a form of gas turbine that is optimized to produce shaft horsepower rather than jet thrust. In concept, turboshaft engines are very similar to turbojets, with additional turbine expansion to extract heat energy from the exhaust and convert it into output shaft power. They are even more similar to turboprops, with only minor differences, and a single engine is often sold in both forms.
The Soloviev D-25V is a Soviet gas-turbine turboshaft engine for use in large helicopters. Designed and originally manufactured by the Soloviev Design Bureau the engine has been in production since May 1960. The power unit consists of two engines coupled to a gearbox weighing 3,200 kg (7,050 lb).
The General Electric T700 and CT7 are a family of turboshaft and turboprop engines in the 1,500–3,000 shp (1,100–2,200 kW) class.
The Turbomeca Astazou is a highly successful series of turboprop and turboshaft engines, first run in 1957. The original version weighed 110 kg (243 lb) and developed 240 kW (320 shp) at 40,000 rpm. It was admitted for aviation service on May 29, 1961, after a 150-hour test run. The main developing engineer was G. Sporer. It was named after two summits of the Pyrenees.
The Turbomeca Turmo is a family of French turboshaft engines manufacturered for helicopter use. Developed from the earlier Turbomeca Artouste, later versions delivered up to 1,300 kW (1,700 shp). A turboprop version was developed for use with the Bréguet 941 transport aircraft.
The General Electric T58 is an American turboshaft engine developed for helicopter use. First run in 1955, it remained in production until 1984, by which time some 6,300 units had been built. On July 1, 1959, it became the first turbine engine to gain FAA certification for civil helicopter use. The engine was license-built and further developed by de Havilland in the UK as the Gnome, in the West Germany by Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz, and also manufactured by Alfa Romeo and the IHI Corporation.
The General Electric T64 is a free-turbine turboshaft engine that was originally developed for use on helicopters, but which was later used on fixed-wing aircraft as well. General Electric introduced the engine in 1964. The original engine design included technical innovations such as corrosion resistant and high-temperature coatings. The engine features a high overall pressure ratio, yielding a low specific fuel consumption for its time. Although the compressor is all-axial, like the earlier General Electric T58, the power turbine shaft is coaxial with the HP shaft and delivers power to the front of the engine, not rearwards. Fourteen compressor stages are required to deliver the required overall pressure ratio. Compressor handling is facilitated by 4 rows of variable stators. Unlike the T58, the power turbine has 2 stages.
The Honeywell T55 is a turboshaft engine used on American helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft since the 1950s, and in unlimited hydroplanes since the 1980s. As of 2021, more than 6,000 of these engines have been built. It is produced by Honeywell Aerospace, a division of Honeywell based in Scottsdale, Arizona, and was originally designed by the Turbine Engine Division of Lycoming Engines in Stratford, Connecticut, as a scaled-up version of the smaller Lycoming T53. The T55 serves as the engine on several major applications including the CH-47-Chinook, the Bell 309, and the Piper PA-48 Enforcer. The T55 also serves as the core of the Lycoming ALF 502 turbofan. Since the T55 was first developed, progressive increases in airflow, overall pressure ratio, and turbine inlet temperature have more than tripled the power output of the engine.
The Garrett TPF351 is a turboprop engine designed by Garrett Engine Division of AlliedSignal Aerospace Company. Initiated by Garrett in October 1987, the TPF351-20 engine was selected by Embraer to power the Embraer/FMA CBA 123 Vector, a high-speed commuter "pusher" aircraft. It was first tested on May 19, 1989 and then ground tested and flight tested on a Boeing 720 on July 9, 1990. The first prototype CBA 123 was tested on July 18, 1990, followed by a flight to the Farnborough Air Show in September of the same year. Both programs were cancelled in 1992, when the TPF351 was nine months from engine certification.
The Kaman K-225 is an American experimental helicopter developed by Kaman Aircraft. One example was modified to become the world's first gas turbine-powered helicopter.
The Allison T38 was an early turboprop engine developed by Allison Engine Company during the late 1940s. The T38 became the basis for the very successful family of Allison T56 turboprop engine.
The Boeing T60 was a family of small turboshaft/turboprop engines produced by Boeing, based on Boeing's earlier Model 500 gas generator and Model 502 (T50) turboshaft engines.
The Continental CAE T51 was a small turboshaft engine produced by Continental Aviation and Engineering (CAE) under license from Turbomeca. A development of the Artouste, it was followed by three additional turboshaft engines, the T72, the T65, and the T67. However, none of these engines, including the T51, entered full production. CAE abandoned turboshaft development in 1967 after the XT67 lost to the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6T (T400) to power the Bell UH-1N Twin Huey.
The Turbomeca Palouste is a French gas turbine engine, first run in 1952. Designed purely as a compressed air generator, the Palouste was mainly used as a ground-based aircraft engine starter unit. Other uses included rotor tip propulsion for helicopters.
The Solar T62 Titan is an American gas turbine engine used mainly as a aircraft auxiliary power unit (APU), conventional power generator, turboprop engine for fixed-wing aircraft or turboshaft engine for helicopters. A new turbine version was developed as the Solar T66.
The Fiat 4700 was an Italian turbo-generator developed by Fiat Aviazione under contract to the Italian Defence Ministry and used to power the experimental Fiat 7002 tip jet helicopter.
The MAN Turbo 6022 is a German gas turbine turboshaft engine for helicopter use. Designed in the early 1960s by BMW the engine powered the third prototype of the MBB Bo 105 on its maiden flight in December 1967.
The PBS TS100 is a small turboshaft engine produced by a Czech turbine engine manufacturer PBS Velká Bíteš. The engine with a maximum power of 241 hp (180 kW) has been developed for light helicopters weighing up to 2,204 lb (1,000 kg).
