What Makes an Airplane Fly?

What makes an airplane fly?

1. Introduction:

In my research, I will try to find out what it is that makes an airplane stay afloat. Is it solely the speed that determines whether or not the airplane can take off, or is it a combination of speed and the way the wings are shaped/placed? What is the underlying science of flying machines heavier than air? I will try to solve this question in my research paper. Before starting the research, I honestly believed the reason why an airplane was able to fly was due to the speed of the propeller.

There are several forces that play a part of the lift of an airplane, and those are explained below:      

Aerodynamics

The first force is air — the stuff that's all around us. How easily an airplane moves through the air, or its aerodynamics, is the first consideration in making an airplane fly for a long distance. (Hewitt)

Drag & Gravity

Planes push a lot of air, and they have a lot of "drag," or resistance, when moving through the air. If you want your plane to fly as far as possible, you want a plane with as little drag as possible. Drag is the friction of the air as it meets and passes over and about an airplane and its components. The more surface area exposed to rushing air, the greater the drag. An airplane's streamlined shape helps it pass through the air more easily.

A second force that planes need to overcome is "gravity." You need to keep your plane's weight to a minimum to help fight against gravity's pull to the ground. (SPALART)

Thrust & Lift

"Thrust" and "lift" are two other forces that help your plane make a long flight. Thrust is the forward movement of the plane, usually created by the propellers, or the plane’s engine. (Labonté)

Lift comes when the air below the airplane wing is pushing up harder than the air above it is pushing down. It is this difference in pressure that enables the plane to fly. Pressure can be reduced on a wing's surface by making the air move over it more quickly. (Wegener) The wings of a plane are curved so that the air moves more quickly over the top of the wing, resulting in an upward push, or lift, on the wing. (The Physics of Flight)

The Four Forces In Balance

Long flights come when these four forces — drag, gravity, thrust, and lift — are balanced. Planes that are built to spend a long time in the air usually have a lot of lift but little thrust. These planes fly a slow and gentle flight. Another important factor that has to be controlled is yaw. Without controlling the yaw, the plane becomes impossible to control. (Romito)

1. Experimentation

I will make a paper plane that’s going to demonstrate how it’s possible for an airplane to fly or glide through the air. The principle of flying for a paper plane is the same as a commercial airliner. The same forces are being used, however, in paper planes the initial thrust comes from the muscles of the "pilot" (me) as the paper plane is launched. After this, paper planes are really gliders, converting altitude to forward motion.