Gas turbine engine that drives a propeller through a reduction gearbox, with the propeller rather than the exhaust producing almost all the thrust.
What it is
A turboprop has the same heart as a jet engine: compressor, combustor and turbine. The difference lies in how the energy is used. The turbine extracts almost all of it to turn a shaft which, through a reduction gearbox, drives the propeller at far lower revolutions than the engine itself. The exhaust contributes only a small share of the thrust.
On short sectors, at cruise speeds below roughly 700 km/h, a turboprop burns considerably less fuel than a jet and performs well from short runways, which is why it dominates regional flying. The Vickers Viscount, powered by Rolls-Royce Dart engines, was the first turboprop airliner to enter scheduled service.
Today the ATR 72 and the De Havilland Canada Dash 8 are familiar examples, both with engines from Pratt & Whitney Canada.
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). Turboprop. Retrieved October 16, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/turboprop
MLA
“Turboprop.” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 9 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/turboprop. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.
Chicago
Vuelopedia. “Turboprop.” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 9, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/turboprop.
Harvard
Vuelopedia (2026) Turboprop. Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/turboprop (Accessed: 16 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{vuelopedia_en_glossary_turboprop,
author = {{Vuelopedia}},
title = {{Turboprop}},
publisher = {Fundación Poderia},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-10-09},
url = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/turboprop},
howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/turboprop}},
urldate = {2026-10-16},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-16}
}Wikipedia
{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/turboprop |title=Turboprop |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-09 |access-date=2026-10-16 |language=en}}