Suppose, just suppose, we were to pit the best propeller-driven fighter from the Second World War and the best modern jet fighter currently available against each other.

Would the outcome be a forgone conclusion? Or would the propeller plane have at least a fighting chance? 

The answer, it turns out, might actually surprise you. 

The short answer is they weren't, at least not completely. Propeller aircraft are still commonplace today, albeit in more specialized roles.

A full discussion on the differences between these two types of engines is far beyond the scope of this article, but we'll attempt to make a quick and dirty comparison for brevity. 

As a general rule of thumb, jet engines are best for longer journeys, or journeys that need to be made quickly. Propeller-driven aircraft is best for small smaller or light aircraft where fuel capacity and profitability of operation is limited. Another unofficial metric is the number of seats an aircraft has. 

If under 100, or so, an aircraft will often have a turboprop engine. Above that and it is probably equipped with jet engines. 

When it comes to military aircraft and commercial airliners, for the most part, jet engines have pretty much completely replaced propeller-based aircraft. This is for a variety of reasons, but the increased speed that is afforded to jet-engined aircraft is one of the most important reasons. 

Another benefit of jet engines is their ability to operate at higher altitudes when compared to propeller-driven aircraft. This, combined with their greater speeds, makes jet engines the engine of choice for long-distance travel — like taking you on a holiday. 

Propeller-driven aircraft also require less runway distance to take off and land and can handle a variety of runway constructions, unlike jet engines. For this reason, regional airports or airfields that might not have concrete runways will likely exclusively only handle propeller-driven aircraft rather than jets. 

Propeller-driven planes are also more fuel-efficient for shorter flights, have lower running costs, are cheaper to insure, and are generally cheaper to maintain than jet engines. However, jet engines are, believe it or not, much quieter engines to run, which makes them better suited for airports near residential areas. 

However, modern jet engines, most commonly the turbofan engines of today are something of a hybrid between the two engine types. In a turbofan, some air comes in the front, is compressed and mixed with fuel, which is then ignited.

The hot exhaust passes through the core and fan turbines and out of a nozzle, as in a turbojet. The rest of the incoming air passes through the fan and goes around the engine, like the air through a propeller. The air that goes through the fan has a higher velocity, from the free stream. So a turbofan gets some of its thrust from the core and some of its thrust from the fan.