Basic Aircraft Structure

an introduction to major airplane components

Airplane Components

Although airplanes are designed for a variety of purposes, most of them have the same major components.

Principle Of Flight: Lift and Drag

Principle Of Flight

An airplane flies because air, moving over and under its surfaces particularly its wings, travels at different velocities producing a difference in air pressure low above the wing and high below it. The low pressure exerts a pulling force and the high pressure a pushing force. The lifting force, usually called lift, depends on the shape, area, and tilt of the wind, and on the speed of the aircraft. The shape of the wing causes the air streaming above and below the wing to travel at different velocities. The greater distance over which the air must travel above the curved upper surface forces that air to move faster to keep pace with the air moving along the flat lower surface.

According to Bernoulli's principle, it is this difference in air velocity that produces the difference in air pressure. 

Aeronautics Basic

Act Directs, April 1818, by Rest Fenner, Paternoster Row.

Aeronautics is the science involved with the study, design, and manufacture of flight-capable machines, or the techniques of operating aircraft. The term aeronautics literally means "sailing the air", originally referred solely to the science of operating the aircraft, but then expanded to include technology, business and other aspects related to aircraft.

One of the significant parts in aeronautics is a branch of physical science called aerodynamics, which deals with the motion of air and the way that it interacts with objects in motion, such as an aircraft. Aviation is a term sometimes used interchangeably with aeronautics, although aeronautics includes lighter-than-air craft such as airships, while aviation does not.