How do airplanes work? Or what is the history of the airplane?

Answer 1

Wow, if you really want to know in detail how an airplane works we would have to spend hours on it. I'm a flight instructor so I know my stuff. If your looking for just basics though a good web site is "How Stuff Works". Here is the URL to get to airplanes.

http://travel.howstuffworks.com/airplane.htm

Answer 2

Airplanes have wings which are shaped to produce lift by moving air sufficient to provide a positive net lift over drag effect. This can be done by an efficient combination of angle of attack and a curved upper surface to produce a lower pressure area compared to the bottom. Other surfaces such as ailerons and rudder on the airplane provide the ability to maneuver safely and to provide stability. In order for a fixed wing aircraft to get consistent and sufficient airflow over the wings, a propulsion device is used like an engine with a propeller or a jet engine.

In the late 1800s Otto Lilienthal wrote a book on aerodynamics and designed and flew the first glider able to carry a person. His book was used by others such as Samuel Langley, Gustave Whitehead, and the Wright Brothers to design the first motor-driven aircraft. Langley had a working scale model in 1891. Whitehead flew a steam engine aircraft in 1901, but due to lack of documentation was not credited with first flight. In December 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright were credited as the first to attain manned powered flight using one engine and two propellers.

Answer 3

Well the first fixed wing aircraft was desighned and flown 200 ft by two bicycle builders in North Caroliner year 1905 their names were the Right brothers. The aircraft they built made of wood and fabric, very light and clumsy in design. Back in those days it was state of the art.

A aircraft wing is designed to create lift while being pulled forward by a small engine that aviators call thrust (forward motion) This motion can be generated by propellor or in todays modern times a jet engine. A jet engine uses fans to suck air into a chamber designed for a small explosion where a rich fuel mixture is sprayed into this chamber which is ignited by a flame that causes the exposion and is forced to exit out the exhaust of the engine creating thrust (forward motion).Although the most important part on an aircraft is the wing. Without the wing there is no lift without lift there is no flying. The wings design is almost like a sideways tear drop. As the plane moves forward air rushes over the tear drop shaped wing. Now you have two physical forces to think about. 1. Gravity pushing down ontop of the wing and 2. lift pushing from the bottom of the wing. Then you have a by product of the two caused by the aerodynamics of the wing ( shape) this is called turbulance wich is left behind the wing as the air from the top and the air from the bottom of the wing meet and mix together. The wing also has flaps that will determin your angle of take off and landing. These flaps are also responsible for turning the aircraft. Now to stabilize the craft while in flight you have what aviators call a vertical tail. This prevents the plane from going into a flat spin while in flight. As the plane moves forward through the air there is a equal amount of pressure pushing on each side of the vertical tail wing making the flight stable. The vertical tail wing also has a vertical flap or rudder wich helps steer the plane in the right direction. Similar to a rudder on a boat. I can get very scientific when it comes to planes and how they fly, but I think this is put simlpe enough for people to understand.

Answer 4

Your question is very general but I'll try my best. I'm not sure what your referring to but I think you mean "How does an airplane fly?". If that's your question then an airplane can achieve flight by picking up speed. This pushes air over the wings and creates high pressure under the wings, and low pressure over the wings. This creates lift and the air planes takes off!

Answer 5

George you should have just listed a reference site. You are misleading in some of your statements. First off, it was the Wright Brothers and they were bike builders from Ohio. Their flights were in Kitty Hawk, NC. The Wright Flyer used two props driven by one engine. These props were of the "pusher" type, thus mounted on the rear of the wing. As for flight controls, well the Flyer was limited. The Wrights attempted such things as applying twisting to the wings (airfoils) to achive banking/rolling. The Wright Flyer used the canard (tail ahead of the main lifting surfaces [wings]) design, which has the appearance of flying backwards relative to the conventional design of our times. Glad you didn't go on with your wealth of knowledge.

Answer 6

Look up the Bernoulli Effect/Principle.
It's describes how aircraft create lift. Thrust is pretty simple, jet engines baby! That will give you the basics.

Answer 7

To demonstrate wing "lift" . . hold the end of a 1" wide strip of tissue aganist your LOWER lip and blow.