Powerplant Explainer Videos
A complete walk-through of Powerplant for your pilot theory exams, covering piston engines, propellers, carburettors and ignition, then gas turbines from intake to exhaust, fuel systems, starting and bleed air. Watch in order or jump to the topic you need. All videos are free.
Piston engines
The Physics and Engineering of Aviation Piston Engines
Energy, work and Newton's laws applied to the piston engine, how heat becomes mechanical power, the four-stroke cycle of induction, compression, power and exhaust, and the difference between petrol and aviation diesel engines.
The Mechanics and Principles of Aviation Piston Engines
From steam to the Otto cycle, the four strokes, the crankcase, crankshaft, connecting rods, pistons and cylinder heads, real-world efficiency, and inline, V, radial and horizontally opposed engine layouts.
Principles of Aircraft Propellers and Piston Engines
How propellers produce thrust, fixed versus variable pitch, fine pitch for take-off and coarse pitch for cruise, propeller efficiency, and why reduction gearing lets the engine run fast while the propeller turns slower.
Principles of Piston Engine Lubrication Systems
The five functions of engine oil, wet versus dry sump systems, pressure and scavenge pumps and filters, viscosity grades, straight mineral versus ashless dispersant oils, hydraulic lock, and in-flight oil pressure and temperature checks.
Fundamentals of Aircraft Piston Engine Ignition Systems
Why piston engines use dual ignition, how a magneto generates a high-voltage spark without external power, contact breakers, capacitors and coils, and the pre-flight dead-cut and live magneto checks.
Aviation Carburettors: Principles, Operation and Management
How the float-type carburettor uses the venturi and pressure differences to meter fuel, mixture enrichment at high power to prevent detonation, carburettor icing and the trade-offs of carb heat, and carburettors versus fuel injection.
The Pilot's Guide to Piston Engine Mixture Management
Rich versus lean mixtures, detonation and backfiring through the induction manifold, mixture settings for start, take-off, climb and cruise, and leaning with exhaust gas temperature (EGT) to peak and beyond.
Principles of Aircraft Engine Fuel Injection Systems
Why fuel injection overcomes carburettor weaknesses, continuous-flow indirect injection, fuel pumps, the fuel control unit, flow divider and injector nozzles, FADEC, and the benefits of aviation diesel engines.
Understanding and Managing Aircraft Engine Icing Hazards
Carburettor icing and why it can form in warm, humid air, impact, fuel evaporation and throttle ice, recognising the symptoms, why you always apply full carb heat, and when to use it in each phase of flight.
Supercharging and Turbocharging Piston Engines
Density altitude and power loss, superchargers versus turbochargers, centrifugal compressors and intercoolers, wastegates and boost controllers, and the risk of overboosting an engine.
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Gas turbine engines
Principles and Mechanics of Aviation Gas Turbines
From Hero's aeolipile to Whittle, Newton's third law, the intake, compression, combustion, turbine and exhaust sequence, convergent and divergent ducts, turbine cooling, and turbojets, turbofans, turboprops and turboshafts.
Principles and Mechanics of Jet Engine Thrust
The thrust equation of mass flow and velocity change, turbofan bypass air, gross versus net thrust and ram drag, the effects of altitude, temperature and speed, flat rating, thrust ratings and specific fuel consumption (SFC).
Gas Turbine Air Inlet Systems
Why the intake must deliver smooth air to the compressor, ram effect and pressure recovery, S-duct intakes on rear-mounted engines, and inlet hazards: icing, foreign object damage, ground suction and turbulence.
A Guide to Jet Compressors
Centrifugal versus axial compressors, compressor materials, compressor stall and surge and how bleed valves and variable stators prevent them, blade damage, and compressor washing.
The Heart of the Gas Turbine: Combustion Chamber Engineering
Primary, secondary and dilution airflow zones, flame temperatures around 2,000°C, airspray, duplex and vaporising burners, can, tubo-annular and annular chambers, flameout, combustion efficiency and emissions.
Engineering and Design of the Gas Turbine Assembly
How turbine blades extract energy from hot gas, impulse and reaction blading, creep, superalloys and single-crystal blades, fir-tree blade roots, tip clearance control and exhaust gas temperature thermocouples.
Engineering and Management of Gas Turbine Exhaust Systems
The exhaust cone, choked and convergent-divergent nozzles, afterburning, low versus high bypass exhausts, noise reduction with acoustic linings, mixers and lobe nozzles, and exhaust danger zones on the ground.
Mechanisms and Operations of Aircraft Reverse Thrust
How reverse thrust shortens the landing roll, clamshell, bucket and cascade reversers, squat switch and weight-on-wheels interlocks, when to reduce reverse during the rollout, and asymmetric reverse hazards.
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Gas Turbine Engine Lubrication Systems and Components
Why jet engines need synthetic oils, the pressure, scavenge and filter circuit, de-aerator trays, fuel-cooled oil coolers, centrifugal breathers, and the warnings pilots see when the system has a problem.
Aviation Gas Turbine Fuels and Management Systems
Jet A-1, Jet A and Jet B and their freezing points, water and microbial contamination, fuel sampling and water checks, additives such as FSII, biocides and anti-static agents, fuel heating and specific gravity.
Architecture and Operation of Aircraft Gas Turbine Fuel Systems
Booster and engine-driven fuel pumps, vapour lock, fuel heaters, the fuel control unit and FADEC with altitude compensation, acceleration control and EGT and RPM limiting, and fuel atomisation.
Principles of Gas Turbine Engine Ignition Systems
Dual high-energy ignition units (HEIU) and igniter plugs, the ignition sequence during start, flameout and relight, when continuous ignition is used, and the resistors that make the system safe.
Aircraft Auxiliary Power and Engine Starting Systems
The APU's electrical and pneumatic roles on the ground and in flight, ETOPS, the ram air turbine, air versus electric starters, the engine start sequence, and wet, hung and hot starts.
Gas Turbine Gearboxes and Accessory Drives
How the accessory gearbox drives pumps, generators and other accessories from the engine shaft, managing heat and shaft expansion, and the move from mechanical to hybrid and all-electric accessory drives.
The Vital Functions and Mechanics of Jet Engine Bleed Air
Where bleed air is tapped from low and high-pressure compressor stages, what it powers, turbine blade cooling, the cost of bleed on thrust, SFC and EGT, overheat and leak protection, and bleedless aircraft designs.
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