Drive system for a propeller driven transport aircraft

A drive system for a propeller driven transport aircraft having a fuselage defining a central longitudinal axis of the aircraft and wings extending from said fuselage on opposite sides of said longitudinal axis, said drive system comprising:

• first and second propeller doublets mounted in a plane on leading edges of said aircraft wings, each of said first and second propeller doublets having two propellers disposed symmetrically on opposite sides of said central longitudinal axis of said aircraft, first and second engine units disposed side by side in said fuselage parallel to said central longitudinal axis, and
• first and second independent drive trains respectively connecting said first and second engine units to said first and second propeller doublets,
• whereby said first and second propeller doublets are driven independently of one another by said first and second engine units respectively, each of said first and second drive trains having transverse drive shafts and gearboxes through which the two propellers of the respective propeller doublet are drivingly connected to the respective engine unit so that, in the event of one engine unit failing, residual propulsion of the aircraft remains symmetrical since the other engine unit still in operation continues to drive a propeller doublet which is disposed symmetrically on opposite sides of the aircraft.