Airplane
Airplane
Airplane
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Classification Vehicle
Industry Various
Application Transportation
Powered Yes
Self-propelled Yes
The Wright brothers invented and flew the first airplane in 1903, recognized
as "the first sustained and controlled heavier-than-air powered flight".
[4]
They built on the works of George Cayley dating from 1799, when he set
forth the concept of the modern airplane (and later built and flew models
and successful passenger-carrying gliders)[5] and the work of German
pioneer of human aviation Otto Lilienthal, who, between 1867 and 1896,
also studied heavier-than-air flight. Lilienthal's flight attempts in 1891 are
seen as the beginning of human flight.[6] Following its limited use in World
War I, aircraft technology continued to develop. Airplanes had a presence
in all the major battles of World War II. The first jet aircraft was the
German Heinkel He 178 in 1939. The first jet airliner, the de Havilland
Comet, was introduced in 1952. The Boeing 707, the first widely successful
commercial jet, was in commercial service for more than 60 years, from
1958 to 2019.[7]
In the United States and Canada, the term "airplane" is used for powered
fixed-wing aircraft. In the United Kingdom and Ireland and most of
the Commonwealth, the term "aeroplane" (/ˈɛərəpleɪn/[12]) is usually applied
to these aircraft.
History
Main articles: Aviation history and First flying machine
Some of the earliest recorded attempts with gliders were those by the 9th-
century Andalusian and Arabic-language poet Abbas ibn Firnas and the
11th-century English monk Eilmer of Malmesbury; both experiments injured
their pilots.[17] Leonardo da Vinci researched the wing design of birds and
designed a man-powered aircraft in his Codex on the Flight of Birds (1502),
noting for the first time the distinction between the center of mass and
the center of pressure of flying birds.
In 1799, George Cayley set forth the concept of the modern airplane as a
fixed-wing flying machine with separate systems for lift, propulsion, and
control.[18][19] Cayley was building and flying models of fixed-wing aircraft as
early as 1803, and he built a successful passenger-carrying glider in 1853.
[5]
In 1856, Frenchman Jean-Marie Le Bris made the first powered flight, by
having his glider "L'Albatros artificiel" pulled by a horse on a beach.[20] Then
the Russian Alexander F. Mozhaisky also made some innovative designs.
In 1883, the American John J. Montgomery made a controlled flight in a
glider.[21] Other aviators who made similar flights at that time were Otto
Lilienthal, Percy Pilcher, and Octave Chanute.
Sir Hiram Maxim built a craft that weighed 3.5 tons, with a 110-foot (34 m)
wingspan that was powered by two 360-horsepower (270 kW) steam
engines driving two propellers. In 1894, his machine was tested with
overhead rails to prevent it from rising. The test showed that it had enough
lift to take off. The craft was uncontrollable and it is presumed that Maxim
realized this because he subsequently abandoned work on it.[22]
Between 1867 and 1896, the German pioneer of human aviation Otto
Lilienthal developed heavier-than-air flight. He was the first person to make
well-documented, repeated, successful gliding flights. Lilienthal's work led
to him developing the concept of the modern wing,[23][24] his flight attempts in
1891 are seen as the beginning of human flight,[25] the "Lilienthal
Normalsegelapparat" is considered to be the first airplane in series
production and his work heavily inspired the Wright brothers.[26]
World War I served as a testbed for the use of the airplane as a weapon.
Airplanes demonstrated their potential as mobile observation platforms,
then proved themselves to be machines of war capable of causing
casualties to the enemy. The earliest known aerial victory with a
synchronized machine gun-armed fighter aircraft occurred in 1915, by
German Luftstreitkräfte Leutnant Kurt Wintgens. Fighter aces appeared;
the greatest (by number of Aerial Combat victories) was Manfred von
Richthofen, also known as the Red Baron.
Airplanes had a presence in all the major battles of World War II. They
were an essential component of the military strategies of the period, such
as the German Blitzkrieg, The Battle of Britain, and the American and
Japanese aircraft carrier campaigns of the Pacific War.
Development of jet aircraft
Propulsion
See also: Powered aircraft and Aircraft engine
Propeller
Main articles: Propeller (aeronautics) and Aircraft engine
Subsonic aircraft, such as airliners, employ high by-pass jet engines for fuel
efficiency. Supersonic aircraft, such as jet fighters, use low-bypass
turbofans. However at supersonic speeds, the air entering the engine must
be decelerated to a subsonic speed and then re-accelerated back to
supersonic speeds after combustion. An afterburner may be used on
combat aircraft to increase power for short periods of time by injecting fuel
directly into the hot exhaust gases. Many jet aircraft also use thrust
reversers to slow down after landing.[44]
Ramjet
Main article: Ramjet
In World War II, the Germans deployed the Me 163 Komet rocket-powered
aircraft. The first plane to break the sound barrier in level flight was a rocket
plane – the Bell X-1 in 1948. The North American X-15 broke many speed
and altitude records in the 1960s and pioneered engineering concepts for
later aircraft and spacecraft. Military transport aircraft may employ rocket-
assisted take offs for short-field situations. Otherwise, rocket aircraft
include spaceplanes, like SpaceShipTwo, for travel beyond the Earth's
atmosphere and sport aircraft developed for the short-lived Rocket Racing
League.
During this process, the objectives and design specifications of the aircraft
are established. First the construction company uses drawings and
equations, simulations, wind tunnel tests and experience to predict the
behavior of the aircraft. Computers are used by companies to draw, plan
and do initial simulations of the aircraft. Small models and mockups of all or
certain parts of the plane are then tested in wind tunnels to verify its
aerodynamics.
When the design has passed through these processes, the company
constructs a limited number of prototypes for testing on the ground.
Representatives from an aviation governing agency often make a first flight.
The flight tests continue until the aircraft has fulfilled all the requirements.
Then, the governing public agency of aviation of the country authorizes the
company to begin production.
Characteristics
Whether flexible or rigid, most wings have a strong frame to give them their
shape and to transfer lift from the wing surface to the rest of the aircraft.
The main structural elements are one or more spars running from root to
tip, and many ribs running from the leading (front) to the trailing (rear) edge.
Early airplane engines had little power, and lightness was very important.
Also, early airfoil sections were very thin, and could not have a strong
frame installed within. So, until the 1930s, most wings were too lightweight
to have enough strength, and external bracing struts and wires were
added. When the available engine power increased during the 1920s and
30s, wings could be made heavy and strong enough that bracing was not
needed any more. This type of unbraced wing is called a cantilever wing.
Wing configuration
Main article: Wing configuration
A monoplane has a single wing plane, a biplane has two stacked one
above the other, a tandem wing has two placed one behind the other.
When the available engine power increased during the 1920s and 30s and
bracing was no longer needed, the unbraced or cantilever monoplane
became the most common form of powered type.
The flying wing configuration was studied extensively in the 1930s and
1940s, notably by Jack Northrop and Cheston L. Eshelman in the United
States, and Alexander Lippisch and the Horten brothers in Germany. After
the war, several experimental designs were based on the flying wing
concept, but the known difficulties remained intractable. Some general
interest continued until the early 1950s but designs did not necessarily offer
a great advantage in range and presented several technical problems,
leading to the adoption of "conventional" solutions like the Convair B-
36 and the B-52 Stratofortress. Due to the practical need for a deep wing,
the flying wing concept is most practical for designs in the slow-to-medium
speed range, and there has been continual interest in using it as a
tactical airlifter design.
Interest in flying wings was renewed in the 1980s due to their potentially
low radar reflection cross-sections. Stealth technology relies on shapes
which only reflect radar waves in certain directions, thus making the aircraft
hard to detect unless the radar receiver is at a specific position relative to
the aircraft - a position that changes continuously as the aircraft moves.
This approach eventually led to the Northrop B-2 Spirit stealth bomber. In
this case, the aerodynamic advantages of the flying wing are not the
primary needs. However, modern computer-controlled fly-by-wire systems
allowed for many of the aerodynamic drawbacks of the flying wing to be
minimized, making for an efficient and stable long-range bomber.
Blended wing body
Main article: Blended wing
Thus blended wing bodied aircraft incorporate design features from both a
futuristic fuselage and flying wing design. The purported advantages of the
blended wing body approach are efficient high-lift wings and a wide airfoil-
shaped body. This enables the entire craft to contribute to lift generation
with the result of potentially increased fuel economy.
Lifting body
Lifting bodies were a major area of research in the 1960s and 70s as a
means to build a small and lightweight crewed spacecraft. The US built
several famous lifting body rocket planes to test the concept, as well as
several rocket-launched re-entry vehicles that were tested over the Pacific.
Interest waned as the US Air Force lost interest in the crewed mission, and
major development ended during the Space Shuttle design process when it
became clear that the highly shaped fuselages made it difficult to fit fuel
tankage.
Empennage and foreplane
Main articles: Empennage and Canard (aeronautics)
Some types have a horizontal "canard" foreplane ahead of the main wing,
instead of behind it.[59][60][61] This foreplane may contribute to the lift, the trim,
or control of the aircraft, or to several of these.
Controls and instruments
Main article: Aircraft flight control system
A light aircraft (Robin DR400/500) cockpit
Further information: Fixed-wing aircraft § Aircraft controls, and Fixed-wing
aircraft § Cockpit instrumentation
Airplanes have complex flight control systems. The main controls allow the
pilot to direct the aircraft in the air by controlling the attitude (roll, pitch and
yaw) and engine thrust.