Internal combustion engine in which pistons, driven by burning a mixture of air and fuel, turn a crankshaft that drives the propeller.
What it is
It works on the same principle as a car engine. In each cylinder a mixture of air and fuel is compressed and ignited, and the expanding gas pushes a piston that, through a connecting rod, turns the crankshaft coupled to the propeller. Civil aero engines have mostly been air-cooled, with the cylinders either horizontally opposed or arranged in a radial star, and most run on avgas (aviation gasoline).
Until the gas turbine arrived, it was the only engine available for airliners. The Douglas DC-3 and DC-6 and the Lockheed Constellation flew on large radial engines from Pratt & Whitney or Wright, such as the Constellation's Wright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone.
It remains common in light aviation, in training and touring aircraft powered by Lycoming or Continental engines.
On Vuelopedia
An aircraft record shows its type of propulsion and the model and number of its engines.
Related terms
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This page was last updated on October 9, 2026
APA
Vuelopedia. (2026, October 9). Piston engine. Retrieved October 20, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/piston-engine
MLA
“Piston engine.” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 9 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/piston-engine. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.
Chicago
Vuelopedia. “Piston engine.” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 9, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/piston-engine.
Harvard
Vuelopedia (2026) Piston engine. Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/piston-engine (Accessed: 20 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{vuelopedia_en_glossary_piston_engine,
author = {{Vuelopedia}},
title = {{Piston engine}},
publisher = {Fundación Poderia},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-10-09},
url = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/piston-engine},
howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/piston-engine}},
urldate = {2026-10-20},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-20}
}Wikipedia
{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/piston-engine |title=Piston engine |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-09 |access-date=2026-10-20 |language=en}}