Flight relies on two principles of aerodynamics, or the study of how air moves around objects: thrust and lift. Thrust is when an object is pushed forward with force. Planes use their jet engines to achieve thrust: the engines suck in air, compress it, mix it with gas, and ignite the mixture it in a burst of energy that shoots out the back of the engine, which pushes the plane forward.
Jet engines produce so much thrust that planes can fly at extremely fast speeds of up to miles per hour mph! Lift is the force that drives a plane upward and keeps it in the air. In order to produce lift, planes rely on their wings, which have a special shape called an airfoil.
The top of the wing bulges out to create a smooth bump. When the wing moves through air, incoming air particles either go above or below it. Thanks to the bump, the air on top of the wing moves faster than the air on the bottom of the wing. Tilting the rotor allows the helicopter to move forward and backward or side-to-side. Propeller Driven Planes - Propeller driven airplanes use a propeller that is turned by some type of engine.
Propellers are shaped just like the wings, and also generate lift, except that the lift is forward instead of up and is called thrust. Each propeller is made up of two or more blades. The first propellers were made of wood, but now most propellers now are made of metal. The F4U Corsair is a propeller driven aircraft.
Jet Planes - Jet planes do not have propellers. Instead, they have jet engines that move the airplane forward through another physical principal discovered by Sir Isaac Newton - The resulting heat forces the gases out of the back of the tube at high speed.
In accordance with Newton's Law, an equal force is applied in the forward direction, moving the engine and the plane it is attached to forward. These are simple explanations, and the real systems are complicated machines that are designed by specially trained engineers. If you would like to start learning more about flight and how Lift is generated by aircraft wings, you can download a free simulation program created by NASA that will let you explore this topic.
There are two programs depending on your education level - Elementary Version and Full Version. About Us. Just like the downhill skier, the pilot wants to make the aircraft as small as possible. The amount of drag produced by the landing gear of a jet is so great that, at cruising speeds, the gear would be ripped right off the plane. For flight to take place, thrust must be equal to or greater than the drag.
If, for any reason, the amount of drag becomes larger than the amount of thrust, the plane will slow down. If the thrust is increased so that it's greater than the drag, the plane will speed up. Sign up for our Newsletter! Mobile Newsletter banner close. Mobile Newsletter chat close. Mobile Newsletter chat dots. Mobile Newsletter chat avatar.
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