How does an airplane fly?

Question

How does an airplane fly?

Answer 1

The engines create thrust, which move the plane.

The wings and flaps create lift, which raises and lowers the altitude of a plane.

The tail stabilizes the plane. It keeps the nose of the plane straight. Flaps on the tail allow you to control the yaw of the plane with foot pedals.

Pulling the stick toward you makes the plane go up. Pushing the stick away from you makes the plane go down.

Also important is the weight of the plane and the amount of thrust the engines produce. If the plane is too heavy for the engines' power, the plane won't take off.

Answer 2

--That is still not fully known.

Answer 3

Gordon Cooper: You know what makes this bird go up? FUNDING makes this bird go up.

Gus Grissom: He's right. No bucks, no Buck Rogers.

Answer 4

Wings.

When air passes over wings (from the aircraft being thrust forward), the wind going over the top of the wing has to cover more area of wing than the wind going under it.  That's how the wings are designed.  So, in other words the same amount of air goes over a bigger area.  That makes the air pressure lower on the top than the bottom.

It's a natural law for high pressure to seek low pressure, so the pressure below the wing pushes up towards the top, lifting the wing.

Another thing is "downwash".  When the air hits the wings, it is pushed downward.  Newton's Laws come into play.  For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.  So, the downgoing wind (downwash) creates yet again, more upward movement.

Those things cause the plane to go up, and the propeller or engine(s) cause the plane to go forward by forcing wind backward.

Why it took so long to figure out such simple stuff is beyond me.

Answer 5

An airplane flies by providing enough thrust and lift to overcome gravity and drag.

Answer 6

It flies just fine.  :)

Actually air pressure under the wings, and vacuum above the wings makes it fly.  Both of those are produced by a properly shaped wing moving through the air.

Answer 7

Aeroplane:  An aero-dynamic plane that moves through the air.  

Airplane:  No such thing.  that would be a plane made of air.

A wing creates lift as it moves through the air.  The air moving over the top of the wing creates lift.  the air moving under the wing creates push.