Fixed-wing aircraft: Encyclopedia II - Fixed-wing aircraft - Conventional airplanes

Fixed-wing aircraft - Conventional airplanes

Conventional airplanes -- from small planes such as the Bumble Bee II and Cessna 140 to a gigantic Antonov 225 -- consist of a longitudinal fuselage, one or more wings to provide the majority of lift, a tailplane for stability, and a one or more vertical surfaces at the tail for stability.

Fixed-wing aircraft - Fixed parts

• Each wing is a single wing structure integrated into the fuselage of the aircraft. Sometimes, the half of a wing on either side of the fuselage is referred to as a wing, e.g. left wing and right wing. Most airplanes are monoplanes having one wing structure for providing lift. Biplanes (two wings) or triplanes (three wings) were popular in the past, and some are still made for special purposes like aerobatics. Fuel is often stored in tanks in the wing.
• In smaller aircraft, fuel is sometimes stored in the fuselage (or main body).
• An engine (or engines): Also known as powerplants, engines serve to propel the aircraft on the ground and the air. Airplanes use a wide variety of engines, including turbine, reciprocating, and radial engines. The engines are usually located under or on the wings or attached to the fuselage. A few aircraft have engines attached to the vertical or horizontal stabilizer.
• The tailplane is a small wing that provides positive or negative lift to stabilize the aircraft in flight. Most often it is configured to provide negative lift. It may be a fixed horizontal stabilizer with a movable elevator or a stabilator that rotates on a shaft to change the angle of incidence.
• The vertical stabilizer is a small vertical wing that is usually attached to the rear of the fuselage. Some aircraft have two vertical stabilizers attached to the horizontal stabilizer or boom structures. A rudder is attached to the vertical stabilizer.

Fixed-wing aircraft - Mobile parts

• Ailerons are located on the wing of the aircraft. They always act at the same time, but in inverse directions, so that the airplane can be turned along its longitudinal axis. This movement is called roll. Because roll changes the direction of lift of the wings, it is the primary method of changing the direction of travel.
• The elevators are located on the horizontal stabilizer to control the rotation around the lateral axis called pitch. The elevator and horizontal stabilizer may be combined into a stabilator.
• On delta-wing aircraft the ailerons and elevators are combined together to perform the same actions and are called elevons.
• The rudder is located on the vertical stabilizer and controls movement around the vertical axis called yaw.
• The landing gear allow the airplane to take off and land. They usually retract during flight to reduce drag; however, on smaller aircraft the gear are often fixed parts. Some aircraft are equipped with special landing gear, such as pontoons or skis, to allow them to land on various surfaces.
• The flaps change the profile of the wing of the airplane, maximizing lift and control of the speed of the aircraft in air, particularly in operations of low speed - especially important in landing and take-off.

Other common parts of aircraft include trim tabs, air brakes, spoilers, winglets and canards.

Unconventional aircraft have been built in a variety of forms. For example: lifting body, canard, V-tail and flying wing.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Conventional airplanes", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki