Aircraft Engines and Engine Parts Key Terms

Learn the words you need to know to understand aircraft engines and engine parts

By Cathy Salustri

If your business deals with aircraft engines and their associated parts, then it helps to have in-depth information about the basic terminology, such as the names of the different types of aircraft engines, and some of the major aircraft engine components. Whether your business is getting into aircraft engine repair or owns a business aircraft, these key terms can help everyone better understand the business of aircraft engines and engine parts.

Shaft engines

Shaft engines include rotary, radial, opposed, turboprop and turboshaft engines as well as others types of aircraft engines.
Try: The Aviation History Online Museum has diagrams of each of these types of engines.

Jet engines

Jet engines, also known as gas turbine engines, include the turbofan, the turbojet, and the afterburning turbojet. All of these types of engines have several components in common. Yet each has its own unique properties as well. Such engines even are found in other applications and industries that are not related to aeronautics.
Try: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration explains these types of engines and how they work on its website. The site also includes diagrams of the engines.

Propellant

Propellant refers to the type of fuel used to power an aircraft engine. Shaft engines use AVGAS, or aviation gasoline, while jet engines use jet fuel.
Try: The CSG Network details the different types of applications of jet fuel while Shell Aviation explains more about aviation gasoline, or AVGAS.

Piston

A piston is a cylinder-shaped piece of metal that moves inside the engine cylinder. It relates to compression and ignition in an engine. The piston's related parts, which are just as important as the piston itself, include the piston bore, piston engine and piston pin.
Try: F1Technical.net explains pistons, piston engines, piston bores and piston pins.

Magnetos

Magnetos, also called mags, are magnets used to create electricity to start an aircraft's engine. They combine several elements of an automobile starter.
Try: Briggs & Stratton explains how magnetos work. Scroll down the page to see the term. Brian's Velosolex has technical specifications and a diagram of how magneto ignition works.

Tachometer

A tachometer, an important part related to an aircraft engine, measures how fast an aircraft engine turns.
Try: FlightSimBooks.com explains how a tachometer works in brief. Find the definition by scrolling down the page to the term. Midwest Executive Aircraft goes into greater detail and has a photograph of a tachometer.