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Aviation glossary

Fan

Also: fan stage, fan blades

Engines

Large bladed rotor at the front of a turbofan that accelerates the incoming air and generates most of the engine's thrust.

What it is

The fan is the first stage of a turbofan, the part you see when you look into the engine from the front. It is driven by the low-pressure turbine, either directly or through a reduction gearbox. Only part of the air it pushes enters the core; the rest flows around it through the bypass duct and, in modern engines, produces most of the thrust.

Fan blades endure enormous loads and are among the most closely studied parts of an engine. For years they were made of titanium, often hollow; many engines, such as the GE90, GEnx and LEAP, now use lighter carbon-fibre composite blades. In certification tests, the engine must also show that its casing contains a blade released at full power.

Fan diameter has grown with each generation: the GE9X on the Boeing 777X measures about 3.4 metres across.

On Vuelopedia

Boeing 777 GE Aerospace

Related terms

TurbofanJet engine in which a large front fan drives air around the core, producing most of the thrust with greater efficiency and less noise. Bypass ratioRatio between the mass of air that flows around a turbofan's core through the outer duct and the mass that passes through the core to be burnt. Geared turbofanTurbofan with a reduction gearbox between the fan and the turbine that drives it, so that each can turn at its own most efficient speed. NacelleStreamlined housing around an aircraft engine that brings together the air intake, access cowlings, thrust reverser and exhaust nozzle. CompressorSection of a turbine engine that raises the pressure of incoming air through successive rows of rotating blades and fixed vanes before it reaches the combustor.
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This page was last updated on October 9, 2026

APA

Vuelopedia. (2026, October 9). Fan. Retrieved October 16, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/fan

MLA

“Fan.” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 9 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/fan. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

Vuelopedia. “Fan.” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 9, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/fan.

Harvard

Vuelopedia (2026) Fan. Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/fan (Accessed: 16 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{vuelopedia_en_glossary_fan,
  author       = {{Vuelopedia}},
  title        = {{Fan}},
  publisher    = {Fundación Poderia},
  year         = {2026},
  date         = {2026-10-09},
  url          = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/fan},
  howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/fan}},
  urldate      = {2026-10-16},
  note         = {Accessed 2026-10-16}
}

Wikipedia

{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/fan |title=Fan |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-09 |access-date=2026-10-16 |language=en}}

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