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Aviation glossary

Thrust

Also: engine thrust, take-off thrust

Engines

Force produced by an engine as it accelerates air or exhaust gas rearwards, pushing the aircraft forward in reaction.

What it is

Thrust follows from Newton's third law: when an engine throws a mass of air backwards, the aircraft receives an equal force in the opposite direction. It is measured in kilonewtons (kN) or in pounds of force (lbf), the unit American manufacturers traditionally use; 1 kN is about 225 lbf.

On take-off, total thrust must overcome drag and the aircraft's inertia with a comfortable margin; in cruise it only needs to balance drag, so the engines run well below their maximum. The same engine is often offered at several thrust ratings, and reduced take-off thrust is widely used when weight and runway allow, to extend engine life.

For reference, a CFM56-7B on the Boeing 737 delivers roughly 87 to 121 kN depending on the version, while the GE90-115B on the Boeing 777-300ER is rated at about 513 kN (115,000 lbf), among the highest certified thrust ratings of any engine in service.

On Vuelopedia

Boeing 777 Boeing 737

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. Thrust reverserEngine mechanism that, after touchdown, redirects part of the airflow forwards to help slow the aircraft on the runway. Specific fuel consumptionAmount of fuel an engine burns for each unit of thrust or power it produces over a given time; the standard measure of engine efficiency. MTOWMaximum weight at which an aircraft is certified to begin its take-off, including structure, crew, passengers, cargo and fuel. Take-off distanceDistance an aircraft needs from the start of its take-off run until it reaches a reference height above the runway, normally 35 feet for transport aircraft.
Whole glossary

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This page was last updated on October 9, 2026

APA

Vuelopedia. (2026, October 9). Thrust. Retrieved October 17, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/thrust

MLA

“Thrust.” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 9 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/thrust. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

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

Harvard

Vuelopedia (2026) Thrust. Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/thrust (Accessed: 17 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{vuelopedia_en_glossary_thrust,
  author       = {{Vuelopedia}},
  title        = {{Thrust}},
  publisher    = {Fundación Poderia},
  year         = {2026},
  date         = {2026-10-09},
  url          = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/thrust},
  howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/thrust}},
  urldate      = {2026-10-17},
  note         = {Accessed 2026-10-17}
}

Wikipedia

{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/thrust |title=Thrust |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-09 |access-date=2026-10-17 |language=en}}

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