Aircraft Engine Technology
Jet engines move the airplane forward with a great force that is produced by a tremendous push and causes the plane to fly very fast. All jet engines which are also called gas turbines work on the same theory. The broad definition of jet engines includes turbojets, turbofans, rockets, ramjets and pulse jets. Commonly, the term jet engine refers to an internal combustion jet engine. Modern subsonic jet aircraft uses high bypass turbofan engines. These engines provide high-speed and greater fuel efficiency.
Jet engines have propelled cars and a turbofan powered car that currently holds the land speed record. Jet engine designs are often customized for non aircraft applications, as industrial gas turbines and marine power plants. These are also used in electrical power generation, for powering water, natural gas, oil pumps, etc. This also provides propulsion for ships and locomotives. Industrial gas turbines can produce up to fifty thousand shaft horsepower. Most of the engines are derived from older military turbojets.
In aircraft engine technology, a modern aircraft has several electrical instruments for maintaining the aircraft on course and at the proper altitude. Modern twin and four engine aircraft too have two sets of fuel gauge instruments. Moreover, they also have a modern electrical gadget. Modern electrical equipment plays a very significant role in airplanes. The built-in failure detection circuit is specifically focused on flight instruments right from the moment the aircraft is powered up and up to the moment the power is switched off. The monitoring equipment receives data feeds from different other instruments in the aircraft e.g. The pitch attitude, compass, glide slope, radio altimeter, etc.
Every modern aircraft has small devices called sensors and are strategically placed at various locations inside and outside the aircraft body. These sensors are linked to monitoring units in the cockpit. Modern wide bodied aircraft displays engine and aircraft data in the cockpit. The same data is also transmitted to ground based servers where it is analyzed by server engineers. Moreover, an alert service engineer can easily detect technical problems and stop them from getting more complex.
Smaller planes do not have remote monitoring feature but with slim line pressure gauge alone, an alert pilot can detect the beginnings of technical obstacles.
So next time you fly, remember that the aircraft engine is being constantly monitored. Thanks to aircraft engine technology, flying has become a safer mode of transport than it used to be before.
