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Thrust levers or throttle levers are found in the 
The throttle lever assembly is often designed to incorporate high-pressure (HP) cock switches so that the pilot has instinctive control of the fuel supply to the engine. Microswitches are located in the throttle box so that the throttle levers actuate the switches to shut the valves when the levers are at their aft end of travel. Pushing the levers forward automatically operates the switches to open the fuel cocks, which remain open during the normal operating range of the levers. Two distinct actions are required to actuate the switches again. The throttle lever must be pulled back to its aft position and a mechanical latch operated, or a detent (hard point) overcome, to allow the lever to travel further and shut off the fuel valve.
Jet engines are "thrust producing", meaning they produce thrust directly, so the levers are known as thrust levers. Propeller engines including
Thrust levers or throttle levers are found in the cockpit
A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a pilot controls the aircraft.
The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the controls that e ...
of aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or by using the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in ...
, and are used by the pilot, copilot, or autopilot
An autopilot is a system used to control the path of an aircraft, marine craft or spacecraft without requiring constant manual control by a human operator. Autopilots do not replace human operators. Instead, the autopilot assists the operator' ...
to control the thrust
Thrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton's third law. When a system expels or accelerates mass in one direction, the accelerated mass will cause a force of equal magnitude but opposite direction to be applied to that ...
output of the aircraft's engine
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy.
Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...
s, by controlling the fuel flow to those engines.
In multi-engine aircraft, each thrust lever displays the engine number
Engine number may refer to an identification number marked on the engine of a vehicle or, in the case of locomotives, to the road number of the locomotive. The engine number is separate from the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN).
Automobiles
E ...
of the engine it controls. Normally, there is one thrust lever for each engine. The thrust levers are normally found in the aircraft's center console, or on the dashboard For business applications, see Dashboard (business).
A dashboard (also called dash, instrument panel (IP), or fascia) is a control panel set within the central console of a vehicle or small aircraft. Usually located directly ahead of the drive ...
of smaller aircraft.
For aircraft equipped with thrust reversal
Thrust reversal, also called reverse thrust, is the temporary diversion of an aircraft engine's thrust for it to act against the forward travel of the aircraft, providing deceleration. Thrust reverser systems are featured on many jet aircraft t ...
, the control for each thrust reverser is usually found adjacent to the corresponding engine's thrust lever.
The position of each lever can be described by the current angle indicated. This is referred to as the ''Throttle
A throttle is the mechanism by which fluid flow is managed by constriction or obstruction.
An engine's power can be increased or decreased by the restriction of inlet gases (by the use of a throttle), but usually decreased. The term ''throttle' ...
Lever Angle'' or ''TLA''. The greater the TLA, the greater the engine thrust.
The throttle lever assembly is often designed to incorporate high-pressure (HP) cock switches so that the pilot has instinctive control of the fuel supply to the engine. Microswitches are located in the throttle box so that the throttle levers actuate the switches to shut the valves when the levers are at their aft end of travel. Pushing the levers forward automatically operates the switches to open the fuel cocks, which remain open during the normal operating range of the levers. Two distinct actions are required to actuate the switches again. The throttle lever must be pulled back to its aft position and a mechanical latch operated, or a detent (hard point) overcome, to allow the lever to travel further and shut off the fuel valve.
Jet engines are "thrust producing", meaning they produce thrust directly, so the levers are known as thrust levers. Propeller engines including turboprop
A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller.
A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. ...
engines are "power producing", meaning they produce power which is converted into thrust by the propeller. Levers in propeller aircraft are therefore known as "power levers", and are used in conjunction with "condition levers". Most piston-engine aircraft have a throttle knob instead.
See also
*Autothrottle
An autothrottle (automatic throttle, also known as autothrust, A/T) is a system that allows a pilot to control the power setting of an aircraft's engines by specifying a desired flight characteristic, rather than manually controlling the fuel f ...
*War Emergency Power
War emergency power (WEP) is a throttle setting that was present on some American World War II military aircraft engines. For use in emergency situations, it produced more than 100% of the engine's normal rated power for a limited amount of tim ...
References
{{Aircraft components Aircraft controls