1. How Planes and Other Aircrafts Fly
Thrust
Propellers
Turbo/Jet Engines
Rocket Engines
Drag
Lift
Weight
Flight
Taking Off
Flying
Banking
Landing
Hot Air Balloons
Helicopters

2. Some Flight Lingo
Being able to fly means you must master the four forces acting on a plane at all times
Thrust
Drag
Lift
Weight

3. Thrust
Is a force which causes an object to move in the forward direction
It is created by an engines which burns oxygen and fuel to create a hot, expanding gas leading to thrust
There are 3 main types of engines
Propeller
Turbine/Jet engine
Rocket

4. Engines Which Create Thrust - Propeller
Initial means of producing thrust in aircrafts
Still used today in small aircrafts or for low speeds
The planes engine spins the propeller which provides thrust in the forward direction
Similar to how fans push air to cool you down

5. Engines Which Create Thrust – Turbine/Jet
Air flows into the engine through the large intake fans
It then passes either through the compression core
Air that goes into the core becomes compressed and increases in energy
Some of this energy is used to turn the fans at the front of the engine
The air is then ignited causing it to exit the engine at very high speeds
The exit of the air produces thrust in the opposite direction

6. Engines Which Create Thrust - Rocket
Thrust is produced by the exit of exhaust downwards
Similar to air exiting a balloon
The downward exhaust forces the rocket upwards
The exhaust is produced by mixing a fuel and oxygen to produce a controlled explosion (combustion)
Hydrogen is a common fuel

7. Drag Drag is the force that opposes (tries to prevent or slow) motion
It is caused by the plane pushing the air molecules out of the way (air resistance/friction)
The larger and faster the object, the greater the drag
For a plane to move forward, the thrust must be greater than the drag

8. Lift
Lift is a force that acts perpendicular (right angles) to the movement of the plane
If lift is greater than weight, the plane goes higher
The shape of the wing creates a higher air pressure below creating an upward force

9. Weight
Weight is the force of gravity which acts on an object and is measured in Newton’s
The lift needs to be greater than the weight for the plane to rise in the air
Airplane designers are always trying to find lighter materials for their planes to reduce the weight

10. Airplane Flight – Taking Off
Take off requires the plane to generate thrust using the engines to overcome the drag
Once the plane gains speed, air passes over the wings to create lift
Once the lift is greater than the weight, the plane takes off

11. Airplane Flight – Flying
Once the plane is in the air, lift is reduced by moving the flaps on the wing
This reduces the pressure below the wing until the pressure is equal above and below
If the lift = weight, then the plane stays at a constant height

12. Turing a Plane in Air - Banking
To turn or bank one way or another, you must increase the lift on one wing and decrease it on the other
This is accomplished by controlling the flaps on each wing individually similar to landing

13. Airplane Flight – Landing
When the plane is ready to land, the pilot again changes the flaps on the wing to reduce the pressure below the wing which decreases lift
Once the lift is less than the weight, the plane begins to lose height
The pilot also decreases the thrust by slowing the engines and increases the drag by changing flaps on the wings

14. Hot Air Balloons
For an object without an engine to fly, it needs to be lighter than air
Hot air rises because it is lighter than the cold air around it
If you heat the air in a hot air balloon enough, it becomes lighter than air and will rise

15. Hot Air Balloons
Hot air balloons contains a burner which burns a fuel like propane to heat the air
To go down, pilots turn down the burners and release some of the hot air out of the balloon
To get from place to place, the pilot must ride the wind. However, air moves in different directions at different heights so a pilot can change a balloons direction by changing altitudes

16. Helicopters
Just like the other aircrafts we’ve discussed, helicopters deal with thrust, lift, drag and weight
Lift is created by spinning the rotor blades above the helicopter using an engine
The rotor blade angles can be changed to increase or decrease lift as well as move the helicopter forward, backwards or sideways

17. Helicopters
The tail rotors allow the pilot to turn the helicopter left or right
These are controlled by foot pedals

18. Helicopters - Uses Helicopters can be used for
flying ambulance to get to difficult locations
fight fires
rescue people in hard-to-reach locations
police and new crews