Watching a huge airliner weighing over 800,000 pounds suddenly take off and fly into the sky at great speeds can seem magical. Flight is something which has astounded people since the dawn of time and even today when we have finally been able to master flight. In this article we will look at the mechanics behind making heavy objects such as airliners fly, Aviation and understanding aerodynamics.
Understanding Aerodynamics
In order for an airplane to fly it needs to make efficient use of four basic forces i.e. lift, thrust, weight, and drag. These basic forces should have the following relationships in the right proportions i.e. Trust = Drag and Lift = Weight. The reason that the trust should be equal to drag is because if the trust of the plane is less than the drag then the plane will slow down on the other hand if the trust is more than the drag then the plane will be too fast. Similarly if the lift drops below the weight of the airplane then the airplane will begin to descend. The more lift an airplane has the higher it will climb this is also how pilots make an airplane climb.
Airplane design
Now even though the design of airplanes has evolved quite significantly over the past decade or so the underlying principle of its design remains the same. Essentially an airplane needs to be designed in an aerodynamic manner. This means that it needs to be designed in a way so that it minimizes drag and friction yet at the same time uses the trust from the airplane’s engine to its advantage in order to take off and then stay in the air.
The reason you don’t see any airplanes without wings is because the wings are the most important part of an airplane. The wings of all airplanes are designed to provide lift with the least amount of drag. When airplanes were first built the wingspan was sometime seven times the size of the plane itself over time technology enables shorter wings which were more aerodynamic.
The flaps of airplane wings are designed in order to accommodate fast, slow, high and low regimes. This is why during both take off and landing the flaps extend towards the back since it alters the wings to give it more lift. Once the plane is airborne the flaps are retreated to their rest position.