Article
Article
Airplane
Article By:
Hazen, David C. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Florida.
Last reviewed:November 2019
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.020000
- Air propulsion systems
- Aerodynamic resistance
- Range
- Stability
- Controls
- Augmentation systems
- Structures
- Related Primary Literature
- Additional Reading
A heavier-than-air vehicle designed to use the pressures created by its motion through the air to lift and transport useful loads. Although airplanes exist in many forms adapted for diverse purposes, they all employ power to overcome the aerodynamic resistance, termed drag, thereby achieving forward motion through the air. The air flowing over specially designed wing surfaces produces pressure patterns which are dependent upon the shape of the surface, angle at which the air approaches the wing, physical properties of the air, and velocity. These pressure patterns acting over the wing surface produce the lift force necessary for flight. See also: Airfoil
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