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Monday, April 30, 2012

Parts of an Airplane

Parts of an Airplane

A very important part of the airplane is the wing, for it is by means of the air blowing over it that the lift is produced by which the plane rises or flies. At the outer ends of the wings are the ailerons, by which the pilot keeps the plane level, banks it, or rolls it. Also located on the wings are the flaps. By using them the pilot can make the plane climb or glide more steeply. The wings often contain the gas tanks. Wings are attached at about the middle of the fuselage, except in small planes and flying boats with high wings. There is usually only one wing on each side, attached near the bottom of the fuselage, where it will not interfere with the pilot's view.

Every plane with one wing is called a monoplane, although many people only think of a monoplane as having its wing attached to the top of the fuselage. In the olden days there were many biplanes-planes having two wings, one above the other. By 1953 they were no longer being manufactured, because the two wings created too much added drag, and with high-powered engines were no longer needed to provide lift. THE TAIL Another necessary part of the airplane is the empennage or tail section. This is attached to the back of the fuselage, and is composed of two parts.

The part that stands upright is called the fin. Hinged to the back of the fin is the rudder. It steers the plane to either side. The fixed horizontal part is called the horizontal stabilizer. It helps the wings and ailerons keeps the plane level. Hinged to the back of the horizontal stabilizer is the elevator, which steers the airplane up and down. The engines for multi-engine planes are located on the forward edge of the wings or just beneath them. If a plane has only a single engine it is located at the front end of the fuselage. Those with rear propellers are pushers. Engines may be all jet, all conventional, or propeller engines, or a combination of both. The B-36, for instance, has six conventional engines and four jets. Before 1940 there were some tri-motored planes (three engines ). Two were on the wings, the third in the nose. But with the growth in size of the airplane engine there was no longer room for one in the nose. All multi-engine planes made after 1940 have had an even number of engines. The landing gear finally, there is the landing gear of the airplane.

This has to be one of the strongest and heaviest parts. If you should fall from a window 10 feet high, you would be going 17 miles per hour when you hit the ground-and it would give you quite a jolt. You can imagine how big a jolt it is on the landing gear when an airplane weighing many tons comes down at more than 100 miles per hour. There are two types of landing gear: conventional, with which the plane sits in a three-point attitude on the ground with tail down; and tricycle, with which the airplane rests in a level position. By 1953, all planes being manufactured, except for a few small types, were of the tricycle type. This arrangement enables the pilot to see better while taxiing, since the plane is level. Most landing gears are also retractable. That is, they can be drawn up into the fuselage while the plane is airborne, so as to reduce drag and thus gain higher speeds. (In 1949, the British Navy began experimenting with planes without landing gear, since without the additional weight greater performance could be obtained. They landed them on rubber mats on carriers, and catapulted them for take-off.) The seaplane is similar to the land plane, except in landing gear.

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