What makes airplanes stay in the air

In particular, his new argument introduces a mutual interaction at the flow field level so that the nonuniform pressure field is a result of an applied force, the downward force exerted on the air by the airfoil.

There are reasons that it is difficult to produce a clear, simple and satisfactory account of aerodynamic lift. Some of the disputes regarding lift involve not the facts themselves but rather how those facts are to be interpreted, which may involve issues that are impossible to decide by experiment.

Nevertheless, there are at this point only a few outstanding matters that require explanation. Lift, as you will recall, is the result of the pressure differences between the top and bottom parts of an airfoil. We already have an acceptable explanation for what happens at the bottom part of an airfoil: the oncoming air pushes on the wing both vertically producing lift and horizontally producing drag.

The upward push exists in the form of higher pressure below the wing, and this higher pressure is a result of simple Newtonian action and reaction. Things are quite different at the top of the wing, however. A region of lower pressure exists there that is also part of the aerodynamic lifting force.

We know from streamlines that the air above the wing adheres closely to the downward curvature of the airfoil. This is the physical mechanism which forces the parcels to move along the airfoil shape.

A slight partial vacuum remains to maintain the parcels in a curved path. This drawing away or pulling down of those air parcels from their neighboring parcels above is what creates the area of lower pressure atop the wing. But another effect also accompanies this action: the higher airflow speed atop the wing.

But as always, when it comes to explaining lift on a nontechnical level, another expert will have another answer. But he is correct in everything else. The problem is that there is no quick and easy explanation. Drela himself concedes that his explanation is unsatisfactory in some ways. So where does that leave us? In effect, right where we started: with John D. This article was originally published with the title "The Enigma of Aerodynamic Lift" in Scientific American , 2, February How Do Wings Work?

Holger Babinsky in Physics Education , Vol. David Bloor. University of Chicago Press, Understanding Aerodynamics: Arguing from the Real Physics. Doug McLean. Wiley, You Will Never Understand Lift. An airliner wing can produce around 7 kilopascals of lift in level flight. Coupled with advances in material science and engine performance it's enough to keep the plane in the sky for anything up to 15 hours.

How do planes stay in the air? Faculty of Science and Engineering. Our Stories. Science and Technology. Please Explain. The way airplanes stay in the sky is millions of bees are under the airplane helping them get to their destination.

They stay in the sky because little people that can fly hold them up and the little people eat jelly and poop out gas. When the jet is on the ground, they push a button and the jet engine starts working. It blows smoke and the jet engine on the back helps it soar into the sky. Airplanes stay in the air because there is a person in it that is by the engine that blows into it to keep it in the air.

That guy probably gets tired after a while! I think a nice witch makes a special potion. Every time an airplane is ready to take off, she throws the magical potion at the last second and makes the plain fly.

Airplanes stay in the sky because of the things at the back. In the front, someone has to drive it. There's no spaces through it. When wind blows it can still fly through the wind. And what it is made from and the control buttons. The air pushes the plane and the wings so the plane can fly. The engines, and the propellers, and the wings allow it to fly. The airplane engine pushes air to the propeller and the propeller pushed air to the wings. The wings are both built to be the same weight, the same length, and shape: it helps it stay balanced.

The wings have to be a little bit towards the front of the plane so it doesn't fall one way or the other because the heavier stuff in the plane is in the front and the lighter stuff is in the back of the plane.

When the air pushes the plane its built where it's like it cuts the air and gets through quicker. That is how an airplane stays in the sky.

The airplanes stay in the sky by getting full of gas and not crashing into anything and good speed. Airplanes stay in the sky because of the propeller in the front and the jets and the propeller in the back. Airplanes have wings on the sides and have engines and the air pushes the airplane and so it stays in the air. I think an airplane stays in the sky because of the springs in it and stays in the sky because the springs trigger the propeller. I think airplanes stay in the sky because of their aerodynamic frame and their high horse power engine and tail fin.

Airplanes stay in the sky because they have wings on the plane and it has a big engine on it and it has spinning things on the wings. Airplanes stay in the sky by little balls of light flying through the sky and they can fix something if anything goes wrong.

How do these machines, weighing thousands of pounds, ever leave the ground? According to Yale geophysicist, Professor Ron Smith, airplanes stay in the air by shifting to maintain various states of equilibrium.

It is all a matter of thrust and lift: the amount of thrust from the engines must overcome the drag force resisting motion, while the lifting force must counteract the effects of gravity.