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by Toutouxc 3 days ago
> an airplane descending still wants thrust from the engines, just not as much as in cruise

> My assertion is that there are no turboprop plans that can maintain a 3° glideslope at normal approach speed without thrust from the engines

These are very different claims, in every dimension. Yes, the final approach is intentionally very shallow, is a minor part of the entire descent phase and the plane flies it in a very "dirty" configuration (gear down, flaps). Yes, the prop on turboprops causes a ton of drag. Are we going to mention the fact that a 737 or an A320 (the most common airliners in the world) are NOT turboprops, they both have a glide ratio comparable to trainer gliders and are fast as fuck?

1 comments

Most transport category aircraft have a better glide ratio than most single engine GA planes when configured for best glide. But they don’t cruise descend at best glide speeds or at idle thrust.

I’m talking about turbo props because the article’s hybrid technology is specifically for turbo props.

My challenge stands: find me a turbo prop that would be happy at idle thrust for either approach or cruise descent.