Everything I've read talks about the potential for damage to jet engines. Does that extend to turbo-prop engines ?
I know they fly slower, but in a real emergency, could smaller cargo aircraft (e.g. C-130) still fly ?
I know they fly slower, but in a real emergency, could smaller cargo aircraft (e.g. C-130) still fly ?
As for the original question, current commercial and military cargo aircraft don't use "jet" engines anymore, they use turbofans, where the vast majority of the thrust comes from a ducted fan at the front of the engine rather than from heated and accelerated exhaust gas. The main differences between turboprop and turbofan configurations are (1) the duct, which allows far more efficient high-speed airflow at the expense of low-speed (near-static) thrust, and (2) the variable pitch and "eddy wall" (in which the turbulence of the propeller wash creates a virtual surface behind the propeller, allowing greater pressure to build up) of the propeller (as opposed to a fan), which provide a huge advantage in short takeoff and landing.