Stabilized Jumbo

Stabilized Jumbo

If the propeller turns clockwise, why doesn't the plane turn counterclockwise to balance the torque?

In helicopters, torque balancing is done by the extra rear propeller. But in airplanes, no such balancing is evident. Even the engines of jumbo jets turn all in the same sense. For stability, the Sum of all torques MUST be 0. Is the sum of the propellers or jets torques so small as not to influence equilibrium? If not, what is the mechanism used to stabilize the plane? It seems to me that, except for helicopters, all propellers are small BUT they turn very fast. So, the momentum generated must be quite large. Please feel free to use engineering notation in your answer. Thanx!

The plane does turn somewhat. In a single engine prop plane, the forces are counteracted by the pilot or computer actuating the ailerons and rudder. For multiple engine prop planes, they often make one engine turn one way, and the other one turn the other to mostly counteract each other. Some pilot input is still required as nothing is perfectly balanced.

For jet engines, the effect is much less, due to the design of the engine. What force is created is again counteracted by the control surfaces of the aircraft.

The force is most noticable when accelerating and decelerating the engine. When it's at a constant velocity, the torque to the whole system is much less.

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