PLT500: Turboprop Engines
What code PLT500 covers, why the FAA tests it, and how to study Turboprop Engines before your checkride.
Recall turboprop engines - components / operational characteristics 13
What this means for your checkride
A turboprop is a gas turbine driving a propeller through a reduction gearbox. It combines turbine smoothness and high-altitude power with propeller efficiency at lower speeds. Power is set with a power lever and monitored by torque and turbine temperature, and a free-turbine design lets the propeller turn independently of the gas generator.
Turboprops are common in advanced training and light transports, so the FAA tests their configuration and how power is set and monitored.
Pilots read propeller RPM as power on a turboprop. Power is shown by torque and turbine temperature; the governor holds the propeller RPM, much like a piston constant-speed prop.
Where to study it
A code on your test report is an area of deficiency. An authorized instructor must review it with you and endorse that review before you take the practical test, and the examiner may revisit it during the oral. Study it until you can explain it out loud, not just recognize the answer.