What The Airbus A340’s Tiny Engines Are Really For

Plane Curious β€’ September 7, 2025
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Use code 'planecurious' to get 22% off @Stirlingkit's amazing DIY turbofan engine kit: https://bit.ly/3HKMsYa. (the discount is available long term!) Check out more turbofan engine kits here: https://bit.ly/45z7u5h and more DIY engine kits here: https://www.stirlingkit.com/?ref=planecurious Four engines when everyone else was switching to two. In the late 1980s, aviation was racing toward efficiency, and ETOPS regulations were opening the skies to powerful twins. But Airbus went the other way, building the A340, a jet that looked almost comically underpowered. Those tiny engines weren’t a mistake. They were part of a calculated gamble that gave the A340 unmatched freedom: the ability to fly anywhere on earth without ETOPS limits. Airlines loved the flexibility. Pilots loved the redundancy. But the trade-offs were brutal, endless takeoff rolls, limited hot-and-high performance, and fuel bills that eventually doomed the design. This is the story of the Airbus A340’s strangest quirk: why one of the largest jets in the sky looked so strangely weak, and how its greatest strength became its ultimate downfall. Our official social accounts: πŸ‘‰πŸ» Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/planecuriousnews πŸ‘‰πŸ» TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@planecuriousnews πŸ‘‰πŸ» Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/planecurious #stirlingkit #aviation #airbus #a340 #boeing #airlines #avgeek #planes #flight 0:00 - 2:25 - Intro 2:25 - 3:30 - Sponsorship 3:30 - 24:30 - Rest Of The Video

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