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Difference between "Throttle" and "Thrust Lever"?

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gringo

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Joined
Feb 20, 2005
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They both do the same thing, but I was taught that with a piston airplane, it's a "throttle", but with a turbine, specifically a jet, they're called "thrust levers".

Can anyone clarify with a refrence to a publication?

Tanks
 
well, since a jet doesnt have a throttle body in the engine this is why the "go" lever isnt called a throttle. The thrust lever adds thrust hence the name.
 
I think it's more manufacturer's preference than anything. I've flown some turboprops and turbine helos that had "throttles." I've also flown some turbine aircraft that had PCL's and ECL's. It just depends.
 
When I flew the EMB-120 Brasilia they were called "Power Levers" since turboprops have propellers that move mass and thus do "work" in a technical physics-sense. Power was measured in torque and shaft-horsepower. The call on the takeoff roll was "Set Power."

Now in the RJ you have no propellers and an engine whose strength is measure in pounds of thrust. The two things sticking up out of the center pedestal are called "Thrust levers." The call is "Set Thrust."

Although both had a turbine core and an argument could be made that the low-pressure fan on a high-bypass turbofan is just a set of very small propellers, the distinction comes down to how that turbine transmits its energy to the environment: prop or jet.

You can always tell a guy who just came over from the weed-wacker because the calls are wrong for a month or so...
 
Thrust Levers are Throttles, and Throttles are Thrust Levers. It's just whats up front that they're controlling that makes the difference (Piston vs. Turbine).

Another good way to look at it is if you don't have a mixture lever/control up front, you probably should call it a Thrust Lever!

Rogue gives the best explanation of it.
 
A throttle restricts airflow (like when old people say "I'll throttle that SOB!") This is what happens in a piston engine. Without a throttle to control airflow into the engine the engine would overspeed and eventually fail.


There is no throttle in a turbine engine. Instead, the way to control power output is through the metering of fuel -- hence a more simple name for the lever.
 
I don't think that the original poster was asking whether or not there is a traditional throttle body attached to a turbine engine. He's asking about the nomenclature of the control inside the cockpit that controls the engine output/condition. There are a number of turbine powered aircraft that feature a control called the "throttle," named such by the aicraft's manufacturer. Whether it's called a throttle, thrust control, thrust lever, power lever, engine condition lever, power condition lever, etc. depends on what the aircraft manufacturer decides to call it. It's just not a matter of whether or not the power is piston or turbine.
 

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