Turboprop Torque, ITT, NP, and %NG Explained (in Plain English)

I recently got checked out in a Kodiak 100, a 750hp turboprop bush airplane, and it was a blast! This was my first turboprop experience and so I had to learn a lot of new terms and concepts in order to fly this airplane, and I wanted to share what I learned here in case it might help anyone else. It might seem confusing at first but I promise with some practice and repetition, it gets WAY easier!
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[@AirplaneAcademy]

Hey guys! I wanted to let you know I just launched an "Insiders" Newsletter where once a week I'm sharing an important lesson I've learned in aviation, links to my latest content so you don't miss out, and links to any other interesting or helpful content I've found. I'm also working on a HUGE project I can't announce yet but I'm going to be sharing more behind the scenes info with Insiders first - Subscribe (it's free) at: airplaneacademy.com/insiders

[@scottsweet13]

My fellow steveo fans will appreciate this one

[@fishhisy]

You can always tell a new turboprop pilot when they bounce off the prop governor, a good technique is stand on the brakes and smoothly apply enough power until the governor is holding the prop at the speed you need and then you can briskly bring the power lever up to take off power.

[@stu3tristan9x9]

The best explanation I have ever seen a model of clarity

[@haxi52]

Man, I love the sound of a turbo prop spinning up!

[@xaisies]

This is, oddly, going to help me in fs2020 in my Kodiak. Good timing!

[@Skiesaremine]

Me too! Except I am flying the 930 in the sim!

[@Trevor_Austin]

Your terminology is very engine and type specific. I’ve flown three turboprops, Jetstream 31/31 with Garrett (now Allied Signal) TPE 331, Fokker 27 with Rolls Royce Dart 1830 and Fokker 50 with Pratt and Whitney PW125B. Here’s my thoughts: Torque may be displayed as ft.lbs, psi or a percentage. It’s just a number. You learn the numbers. ITT really does need looking at during a start and on some types during the cruise. Np is almost irrelevant. You typically set it and leave it. The Fokker 27 was an exception to this. Ng ends up and being what it is. The last turboprop I flew was a Fokker 50. Next to a jet, it to be one of the simplest aircraft a person can fly.

[@JohnVanderbeck]

Some don't even have a prop lever.

[@923rk]

Absolutely love your videos, the way you present the content is excellent!

[@AirplaneAcademy]

Thank you!

[@Zfx13]

All I wanna say is, GOD BLESS U BRO!!!!!

[@laceyproductions9236]

What a bloody fantastic and informative video !!!

[@pilotalex5677]

Nice operating description. I have a question though, at landing phase what are the settings to go in case of a go around? Since your prop is fully foward I guess you can't slam the throttle full time to have all the power. In that case do you pull the throttle slightly back before hitting on the throttle full power ? (Kind of a piston like action )

[@renardinosrenard9581]

Thanks for good explanation

[@adamcorby804]

Great video! So if the prop is set at like 2000, and you increase torque, for the prop to stay at 2000 it would increase in pitch hence more thrust and forward speed right?

[@AirplaneAcademy]

Correct

[@andrewahern3730]

The over torque/temp is obvious when you think about it. Down low the air is dense, so big power is available. Up high, the air is so thin, it doesn't have the thermal capacity to cool.

[@Steve-zt8ff]

When are you getting Kodiak

[@TrainSounds]

What about for jet aircraft?

[@BPond7]

What does NP and NG stand for? I know what their gauges mean, but what do the letters stand for?

[@xenimaging]

Bro, are you gonna tell us how and why you are flying a Kodiak 100????

[@andrewagner2035]

Nice one. What is the hire and fuel cost of the Kodiak per hour. Was that your Dad in the right seat?

[@AirplaneAcademy]

It's burning like 350 pounds per hour in cruise so roughly 53 gallons per hour ish depending on how hard you're pushing it. And yes that was my dad in some of those clips.

[@jamestunedflat8942]

What would a turbine failure be like in a turboprop? (Other than expensive) would you hear the destruction, or would you be fooled into trying to air start the engine on the way down, wasting time in the process?

[@MrSuzuki1187]

I have had 2 PT6 engine failures and they are nothing less than EXPLOSIVE! When a turbine disc, spinning at 44,000 rpm, loses a blade, the engine disintegrates in a dramatic fashion. There is a crunching sound that on my first failure made me think we had hit some object, but when the prop autofeathered, I knew we had suffered a catastrophic failure.

[@jamestunedflat8942]

@@MrSuzuki1187 very happy to hear your response. Mostly because you stuck two dead stick landings and are recalling the events, but also to sate my curiosity. Thank you.

[@timsteffen3035]

Patey had a pretty good video on PT-6 engine failure: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ppjTl2ihqbCJeMUsi=0JueWXYrVphXciCP

[@simisozwane1452]

Torque=moment?

[@schweetmunkie]

Where did you go to get this training?

[@AirplaneAcademy]

Combo of flying with a mentor pilot for about 40 hours and then did K100 initial training with Parkwater Aviation in Spokane, WA

[@schweetmunkie]

@@AirplaneAcademy Thanks for the info! I'd love to fly with you some time. I'm a CMEL and CFI student over at AFW.

[@HyperSpaceProphet]

You should re-title this as PT-6 rather than Turbine. There ARE other turbines in turboprop aircraft. Your video, while great, is totally Pt-6 centric. The broad strokes are the same, but the differences are important.

[@Trevor_Austin]

You are totally correct.

[@JohnVanderbeck]

Sacrilege. There are only pt6's :)

[@timw6697]

Also.. torque… left turning tendencies 😀

[@FlyingNDriving]

There's no such thing as RPMs...RPM is already plural

[@kevinbarry71]

FYI, torque is measured in lb ft, not foot lbs.

[@andrewahern3730]

Literally the same thing. Order doesn't matter for multiplication

[@kevinbarry71]

@@andrewahern3730 you are amazingly wrong. But carry-on

[@andrewahern3730]

@@kevinbarry71 lol, let's hear it. Explain why I'm wrong

[@kevinbarry71]

@@andrewahern3730 you are a monument to the Dunning Krueger effect. It doesn't mean what you think it means. It's a definition. Someday when you get out of your mother's basement perhaps you can bother to look it up

[@isaacfriedman1698]

​@kevinbarry71 its measured in Ft-Lb, at leasts on the G1000 in the kodiak And Caravan....

[@secondwindmusicproductions]

Great info and well explained. But I must complain about your use of the term "rpms". As I am sure you know, rpm stands for revolutions per minute, or how many revolutions in one minute. If you say "rpms", you are literally saying "revolutions per minutes". So how many minutes? That usage is ambiguous and incorrect. The only time "rpms" is correct is when comparing two different instances like, "the rpms differed by 200". Sorry to be picky but the continued incorrect usage is extremely distracting.

[@JustSayN2O]

no its not

[@sircrapalot9954]

It’s incorrect usage and extremely distracting of you to not capitalize RPM. The colloquial use of “RPMs,” on the other hand, is quite common and acceptable.

[@andrewahern3730]

What are you talking about? Nobody is counting discreet revolutions. I think some heavy equipment logs usage in "hours @ 2k RPM", but that is by far the exception, not the rule.

[@Trevor_Austin]

I find the usage rpm’s annoying.

[@buttcrack7784]

It’s force not pressure. Force is a load, pressure is a force across an area.