Words for: Aircraft Systems
← Back to Aircraft SystemsSign up free to keep track of the words you’ve cleared.
The motors that make an airplane fly. They burn fuel to spin a propeller or push out exhaust, which is what moves the airplane forward.
The powerplants that convert fuel energy into the thrust or propeller power that moves an airplane through the air. In general aviation airplanes, this most often means a piston engine driving a propeller, but the category also includes turboprop, turbojet, and turbofan engines used in larger or higher-performance aircraft.
You will see this term in discussions of aircraft certification, maintenance, preflight checks, performance, and emergency procedures.
Aircraft combines “air” with “craft,” meaning a vehicle or machine. Engine comes from an old word meaning an invention or mechanical device. Together, “aircraft engines” points to the machines built to power vehicles that fly.
Engine type directly affects performance, fuel planning, emergency procedures, and required maintenance inspections.
Aircraft engines are not just "car engines with wings." They are built, certified, and maintained to a much higher standard, and the FAA treats them as a separate regulated category with their own inspection and overhaul rules.
The FAA sets standards for the design, manufacture, and maintenance of aircraft engines to ensure they remain reliable in flight.
The flight manual lists separate operating limitations for each type of aircraft engines installed on the airplane.