Propellers

In outer space there is no atmosphere so turbines and propellers cannot work there. This explains why a rocket works in space but a turbine engine or a propeller does not work.

For the forty years following the first flight of the Wright brothers, airplanes used internal combustion engines to turn propellers to generate thrust.

Propellers can have from 2 to 6 blades.

After World War II, as jet engines gained popularity, aerodynamicists used jet engines to turn the propellers on some aircraft. This propulsion system is called a turboprop.

A C-130 transport plane is a turboprop aircraft. Its main thrust comes from the propellers, but the propellers are turned by turbine engines.

Propellers are not used on high speed aircraft.

Like all modern airships, the new Zeppelin NT is filled with the inert gas helium, instead of the highly flammable hydrogen gas that doomed the Hindenburg. With its three propellers, it can fly at about 100 kilometers an hour with a good tailwind—and at a height of about 2,000 meters.

Propellers whirred on the slim airplane's long wings as Swiss pilot Andre Borschberg set out to make history by flying a solar-powered airplane through day and night, without fuel.