Propeller (aeronautics) in the context of "Turboprop"

The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a retired American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, the Superfortress was designed for high-altitude strategic bombing, but also excelled in low-altitude night incendiary bombing, and in dropping naval mines to blockade Japan. Silverplate B-29s dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the only aircraft ever to drop nuclear weapons in combat.

One of the largest aircraft of World War II, the B-29 was designed with state-of-the-art technology, which included a pressurized cabin, dual-wheeled tricycle landing gear, and an analog computer-controlled fire-control system that allowed one gunner and a fire-control officer to direct four remote machine gun turrets. The $3 billion cost of design and production (equivalent to $52 billion in 2024), far exceeding the $1.9 billion cost of the Manhattan Project, made the B-29 program the most expensive of the war. The B-29 remained in service in various roles throughout the 1950s, being retired in the early 1960s after 3,970 had been built. A few were also used as flying television transmitters by the Stratovision company. The Royal Air Force flew the B-29 with the service name Washington from 1950 to 1954 when the jet-powered Canberra entered service.

A navalised aircraft (or navalized aircraft) is an aircraft that is designed for naval usage. A navalised aircraft specifically designed to take off and land from the flight deck of an aircraft carrier is called a carrier-based aircraft.

Navalised aircraft include both fixed-wing (including seaplanes, biplanes, monoplanes and flying wings, both propeller- and jet-propelled) and rotary-wing aircraft (helicopters, tiltrotors and, in some cases, multicopters). In many cases, the aircraft is simply a modified variant of a land-based model. They are different to land-based aircraft in that they are designed to tolerate greater corrosion due to humidity and salt weathering around marine environments, handle increased mechanical stress due to harsher air conditions such as strong sea breezes and extreme weathers, and often need to operate on moving vessels at sea, which typically dictates more complex flight control to deal with unsteady sea state and also the ability to perform vertical/short takeoff and landing as there are very limited runway spaces available (or none at all) on deck.

A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a fixed-wing aircraft that can take off and land on runways that are much shorter than the typical ones needed for conventional take-off and landing. STOL-capable aircraft are usually light aircraft (mostly propeller-driven utility aircraft, sporters or motor gliders) with a high lift-to-drag ratio and typically also a high aspect ratio, allowing them to achieve minimum takeoff speed (i.e. liftoff speed or V_LOF) much more quickly and thus requiring a shorter accelerating run before taking off (takeoff roll); and perform landing at a lower minimum steady flight speed (V_S0) and thus also a shorter decelerating run (rollout).

Gyrocopters, despite being rotary-wing aircraft, need a forward motion to drive air flow past autorotating rotor blades to generate lift and thus still mandate runways (albeit a very short one) for takeoff and landing. They are therefore also considered STOL aircraft, as they cannot perform vertical takeoff and landing like helicopters.

In aeronautics, a ducted fan is a thrust-generating mechanical fan or propeller mounted within a cylindrical duct or shroud. Other terms include ducted propeller or shrouded propeller. When used in vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) applications it is also known as a shrouded rotor.

Ducted fans are used for propulsion or direct lift in many types of vehicle including airplanes, airships, hovercraft, and powered lift VTOL aircraft. The high-bypass turbofan engines used on many modern airliners is an example of a very successful and popular use of ducted fan design.