How many HP has an aircraft, let's say a Boeing 747?

Question

just curious

Answer 1

HP? Horse power? 100,000hp. I have always heard that divide the total thrust in half is a good place to start.

Answer 2

Jet engine power is not expressed in horsepower.  Piston engines range from 3 hp for a lawnmower up to around 6,000 hp for marine diesel engines.

My Aeronca 11AC has 85 hp.  I sometimes fly a Piper Cherokee with 180 hp.

I used to fly a 747 that had about 280,000 pounds of thrust,  Turbojet and turbofan engine power values are expressed that way: in pounds of thrust.  A small turbojet can be as small as about 4,000 pounds of thrust, and they go up to about 75,000 pounds per engine.

Answer 3

Hp is a measure of work done, so since jets just push air, if the aircraft is not moving (brakes on) Hp is zero.  Piston engines turn a shaft connected to a propeller, and this can be measured, in Shaft Horsepower, or SHp.  for this reason jet engines are measured in 'pounds of thrust'.  A 747, depending on the particular version and engine option the customer ordered, has roughly 60,000 pounds of thrust per engine.

If this is confusing, a good read is here:

http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/pro...