what keeps an aeroplane in the air?

Answer 1

This should tell you all you need to know.

http://www.uvm.edu/~inquiryb/webquest/sp05/mondani/

Answer 2

An aircraft‘s wing is flat on the lower side and
rounded on the upper. When air strikes the wing and
it is divided by the leading edge which is rounded
over the top and straight on the bottom side. The
upper part of the wing is tapered to a much thinner
wing at the point of the trailing edge where the
air meets again. With this brief explanation in mind
it is easy to understand that the air over the top
must travel at a higher speed since is has a longer
distance to go before meeting up with the air which
has passed on the underside. At the trailing edge
both upper and lower passages meet at the same time,
if it were not so, there would be a vacuum which is
not possible. So it is the accelerated and faster
air over the top that creates "lift" as if it were
an upper suction effect on the top of the wing. If
you can, take a look at an aircraft model and measure
the distance over the top and straight lower side and you will find this explanation to be
true. I have purposely avoided using technical
aeronautical terms so that all may able to understand.

Answer 3

The aircrafts wings keep the aircraft in the air. The wings are shaped and angled so that air can move across the top and bottom. When the air hits the underside of the wing it causes lift which makes the airplane go up. If you go in a car and put your hand flat out of the window it wont move but if you angle it slightly you will see your hand will raise. The wings have a angle on it so it will do the same and stay in the air. As you take off you will see that the flaps on the wings will be dropped to a greater angle to make it go up. When the aircraft is in the air the flaps will move up to keep it in the air.

Answer 4

An aircraft flies due to aerodynamic reactions that happen when there is relative motion between air and a wing.

Lift is created as an airstream passes by something which deflects it. The force created by this deflection of the air creates an equal and opposite force on the wing according to Newton's third law of motion. The deflection of airflow downward during the creation of lift is known as downwash.

Nearly any shape will produce lift if curved or tilted with respect to the air flow direction. However, most shapes will be very inefficient and create too much drag. One of the primary goals of wing design is to devise a shape that produces the most lift while producing the least lift-induced drag.

If a cross-section of a typical aircraft wing is viewed, the top of the wing can be seen to be curved downwards, while the bottom of the wing is less curved or straight, but angled to the airflow. This shape, called an airfoil or aerofoil, creates lift when it travels through the air. (n.b. this wing shape is not applicable for aerobatic aircraft, which need to fly inverted, or for supersonic aircraft.)

A false explanation for lift has been put forward in mainstream books, and even in scientific exhibitions. Known as the equal transit-time fallacy, it states that the parcels of air which are divided by an airfoil must rejoin again; because of the greater curvature (and hence longer path) of the upper surface of an aerofoil, the air going over the top must go faster in order to "catch up" with the air flowing around the bottom. Therefore, because of its higher speed the pressure of the air above the airfoil must be lower. Despite the fact that this "explanation" is probably the most common of all, it is false in that there is no requirement that divided parcels of air rejoin again, and in fact they do not do so.

Nevertheless, the deflection of the air does cause changes in the pressure above and below the wing; generally a higher pressure area forms below and a lower pressure forms above; these changes in pressure are necessary for the deflection to occur, and it is these pressure differences over the area of the wing that provides the force that holds the aircraft in the air.

Answer 5

lift is provided by the wings

fundamentally its the aerodynamic properties of the wing and other aerodynamic structures

the engines provide thrust but that amplfies the lift from a wing by forcing more air over/under the aerofoil, but the engines themselves do not provide lift, merely thrust.

with the exception of military aircraft most planes can fly for a while without power, but if the speed drops below a certain threshold it will stall, leading to a loss of control. an plane without engines is a glider. gliders dont need tobe samll single / twin cockpit - a few years back an Air Transat airbus ran out of fuel a few years ago and had to do an emergency landing in the Azores . It flew for 20 minutes / 80 miles with no fuel

Answer 6

There is more area on the lower wing than the top. The answer is air pressure. Not only is there less surface area but also as the wing moves rapidly forward the air on top of the wing moves rapidly off of it and there develops a vacuum on the top of the wing as well as compression of air molecules against the bottom of the wing. Then of course there is the will to fly by the pilot and all the passengers.

Of course there is the fuel that powers the plane.

Answer 7

It is the amount of lift generated from the wings and other surfaces of the plane. That is why the gliders fly and remain in the air for long hours using currents and hot and cold zones. The issue is as simple as that but now there are intelligent structures that make a plane fly optimally in a way more economic and efficient. So this is a lumpsum of the matter but it is an engineering issue very difficult and complex.

Answer 8

The answer is lift - that is what you would call any force that acts in the upward direction for airflow from front to back. The question is what generates the lift. It is a combination of two things - 1. Bernoulli - the shape of the wing causing airflow over the top to be faster than airflow over the bottom, resulting in a higher pressure underneath and lower pressure on top, and 2. Newton's action-reaction (for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction). The wings direct airflow downward, so there is a force acting upward on the wing.

Which is more important? It depends on the shape of the wing and the angle of attack.

Answer 9

Although being 'rounded' on the upper surface gives more lift for less drag it is possible to fly with the plane up side down!
A paper dart flies but its surfaces are not rounded.
If a wing was simply flat it would have to be angled so that the air it is passing through is deflected downwards. This produces a lot of drag compared to the lift.
RoyS

Answer 10

The aerofoil profile of its wings and tail plane.

The lead should be round and the finishing edge thin with the area in between dished upwards.
Such configuration gives lift and that amount of lift determines the load it can carry.
A change in profile, but similar, is used for industrial fans.
The efficiency, ie power to lift, is difficult to quantify unless the bodywork or airframe is considered.
Barometer pressure also make a difference as does a Jet Stream.
From experience I then wished the wings were half the size.

Answer 11

Bernoillis principal. The amount of air going over the wings = the amount of lift under the wings. There are some easy experiments you can do the show the idea of this. get a spool of thread and a straight pin and a piece of card stock. put the pin throught thecard and place it in the bottom hole of the spool. blow through the spool. Instead of the card blowing out it will stay on the spool. Kind of fun to do for the kids.