Aircraft are the most majestic technological machines that human beings ever created.

It also
revolutionized the way we travel, from a lengthy-hour drive from interstate to a shorter-timed flight from
one region to another. Because of its speed and capacity, it can connect us anywhere around the globe.
And with that, there are multiple aircraft with different variants that cater to specific needs. In this topic,
I will discuss the most common types of aircraft that we usually encounter in our daily lives. Or if not, the
most commonly used in the aviation industry.

First is the piston aircraft. It is an aircraft that is powered by a piston engine and powers the
propeller that is present in the aircraft. The aircraft that was used by the Wright brothers, the persons
behind the first powered aircraft, is powered by a dual-piston engine, and other notable aircraft are the
Piper P-28 Cherokee, and the famous WWII fighter planes such as the Spitfire, P-51 Mustang, and Hellcat
aircraft. The mechanism of a piston aircraft is that it has similarities in mechanism as to what automobile
engines have. It uses an internal combustion engine that uses one or multiple reciprocating pistons to
convert pressure into a rotational pressure for it to generate a motion in the aircraft. The advantages of
a piston aircraft are that Piston aircraft don’t need long runways to fly, it doesn’t need traffic control
towers to navigate, and it is cheaper to operate. The disadvantage of this kind of aircraft is that it can only
fly at lower altitudes, it has a lesser range, and it has low power compared to other types of aircraft
around.

The second is the turboprop engine. It is commonly used for domestic flights, business trips that
require shorter distances, and some are used for aircraft training for pilots who are aspiring to become
commercial, or private. It is a type of aircraft wherein, it requires one or more gas-turbine engines
connected to a gearbox that turns the propellers, and to move the aircraft on the ground and through the
air. The most notable aircraft in this type are the ATR turboprop planes like the ATR 72 series, which is
frequently used on domestic flights across the country, the Bombardier Q series, which is similar to the
ATR 72 series with the same purpose, military cargo aircrafts such as the famous C-130 aircraft, which
transports troops, performing HADR operations, SAR, and many more depending on the configuration.
The principle of this aircraft is that it has two main parts to a turboprop propulsion system, the core engine
and the propeller. The core is very similar to a basic turbojet except that instead of expanding all the hot
exhaust through the nozzle to produce thrust, most of the energy of the exhaust is used to turn the
turbine. Because propellers become less efficient as the speed of the aircraft increases, turboprops are
used only for low-speed aircraft like cargo planes. High-speed transports usually use high bypass turbofans
because of the high fuel efficiency and high-speed capability of turbofans. The advantages of a turboprop
aircraft are that it can able to take off and land on shorter and non-concrete runways, it has a lower
charter, insurance, operation, and maintenance costs, and it is more efficient & more cost-effective for
short distances. The disadvantage of this aircraft is that it has a slower cruising speed and lower cruising
altitude equates to a shorter range even factoring in improved efficiency.

The third one is the Turbofan aircraft. Most modern passenger aircraft and some military aircraft
are powered by a fanjet or bypass engine. It is a type of jet engine variant which produces thrust using a
combination of jet core efflux and bypass air which has been accelerated by a ducted fan that is driven by
the jet core. There are a variety of aircrafts that are using this kind of propulsion, ranging from smaller
regional jets like the CRJ-900 Regional jet, Airbus A220, to the narrow-body passenger jet such as the
Boeing 737 and the Airbus A320, to the wide-body jets such as the Airbus A330, A350, and A380, and the
Boeing 747, 767, and 777. The mechanics of this type of aircraft is that, in a conventional turbofan engine,
the fan and the low-pressure compressor turn at the same speed whereas, in a geared turbofan, they do
not. The fan itself is contained within a duct that surrounds the engine core. Low bypass engines often
have a multistage fan that generates a low volume but relatively high-speed air stream whereas high
bypass engines usually have a single-stage fan that generates a high volume but relatively low-speed air
stream. The advantage of a turbojet aircraft is that it can be efficient at higher speeds which are suitable
for air traveling that’s above 270 knots for fuel efficiency, yet still achieving longer range. Also, its engines
do not have any unbalanced forces and are, thus, free from vibrations. The disadvantage of a turbojet
aircraft is that it is less efficient at lower speeds and shorter distances because it consumes a lot of fuel
burn per minute compared to a longer flight with higher speeds, and it is noisy during takeoffs and
landings, making the nearby residences annoyed of the sound it produces.

The last one is the turbojet aircraft. The simplest version of aircraft jet engines is a turbojet.
Turbojets were used on the first jet powered aircraft, such as the modern warfighter planes like the
Lockheed Martin F-16, F-22, and F-35, and the famous yet ill-fated Concorde, that is the only supersonic
commercial jet ever flown is powered by a turbojet engine. The mechanics of this type of aircraft is that,
in a turbojet engine, energy is added to the air by the compressor and burners. The compressor increases
the pressure of the air analogous to the way squid pressurize water with their powerful muscles before
ejecting it from their funnel to create a jet. The burners increase the temperature of the air. The result is
high temperature, high pressure air that contains a lot of thermal energy. The advantages of this type of
aircraft is that, its engines do not have any unbalanced forces and are, thus, free from vibrations. And at
higher speeds the turbojet has higher propulsive efficiency which are suitable to aircrafts travelling at
speeds higher than 800kmph. The disadvantage of this type of aircraft is that, it is inefficient when
accelerating at lower speeds because it consumes a lot of fuel, therefore it can only operate at a shorter
distance. Also, the engine of the aircraft is noisy, it can irritate nearby persons when the aircraft will fly
over a community that can cause ear damage to some persons with too much sensitivity in hearing,
therefore damaging their eardrums because of the noise that is generated by the aircraft.