Why does Airplane have wings?

Show all answers

Aakash Saikia

A fixed-wing aircraft or an "aeroplane" (as we better know it) primarily consists of the following major parts :-

1) A long cylinder, called a fuselage, usually with tapered or rounded ends to make its shape aerodynamically smooth. The fuselage carries the human flight crew if the aircraft is piloted, the passengers if the aircraft is a passenger aircraft, other cargo or payload, and engines and/or fuel if the aircraft is so equipped. The pilots, who are members of the flight crew, operate the aircraft from a cockpit located at the front or top of the fuselage and equipped with windows, controls, and instruments.

2) A pair of long, narrow, flat, nearly horizontal wings, with an airfoil cross-section shape, used to generate aerodynamic lifting force to support the aircraft in flight by deflecting air downward as the aircraft moves forward.

3) A small wing mounted vertically at the top rear of the fuselage, called a vertical stabilizer or the "tail". Some aircraft have multiple vertical stabilizers.

4) A pair of small horizontal wings usually mounted near the rear of the fuselage known as the "tail fins".

5) One or more aircraft engines, propulsion units that provide thrust to push the aircraft forward through the air. The engine is optional in the case of gliders that are not motor gliders.

6) Landing gear, a set of wheels, skids, or floats (depending on the intended landing surface for the aircraft) that support the aircraft while it is on the ground.

Now, when the aircraft moves through the air, owing to its velocity and the aerofoil design of the wings, a pressure vaccuum is created around the wings. This causes air to push upwards on the lower surface of the wings, which causes lift, and hence the aircraft can perform sustained flight.

Also, the aircraft wings contain a vital component for flight known as "flaps".
What purpose do the flaps serve, you ask?
Well, an aircraft mainly has three axes of movement, namely - "pitch", "roll" and "yaw".

PITCH refers to the upward and downward motion of the aircraft. This is assisted mainly by the tail fins (mentioned earlier), and in some cases "canards" or even "thrust-vectoring".

ROLL refers to the rotation along the longitudnal axis of the aircraft. This is assisted by the "flaps" in the wings of the aircraft. Hence, you now know the second significance of wings.

Finally, YAW refers to the rotation of the aircraft along the vertical axis. This is assisted by the "rudder" in the tail (or tails) of the aircraft. In some cases, even this may be assisted by thrust-vectoring.

So, you no know what purpose the wings serve. I hope i have been able to alleviate your doubts.

Take Care
~Peace Out~

Mr. Taco

There are several reasons. Mainly, though, the wings are what give a plane its lift. No wings, no lift. No lift, no flying. The steering mechanisms are also in the wings. No wings, not ability to steer! Finally, the wings provide stability. They keep the plane from spinning and bouncing around too much. Ever been on a plane when it hit turbulence? Well, without wings, that experience would be a hundred times worse.

Clown_Uno

For stability while in flight.

Andrew

TO FLY, this is something most 3 year old know.

talarknhansum

A plane is a mechanical bird , a bird flaps its wings to stay on top and it controls its up and down travel by tilting its wings and turns by its tail.
The plane has engine to generate a thrust force to push the plane forward and it has radars to turn direction.

nukemobile

The wings on a plane produce lift so the plane can leave the ground

Janki

Tou know how birds have wings to glide. Well its the same for a plane it has wings because it needs to glide.

Joe Pilot

I'm sorry that people were so rude to you. It's a legitimate questions for someone that doesn't understand the theory of flight.

I'm sure that Captain obvious feels very superior for telling you that wings are required to fly.

A wing is designed to produce lift. How? As an aircraft moves forward through the air, the relative wind (wind blowing toward the wing from the movement of the aircraft) creates changes in pressure to create lift.

There are four forces acting on an airplane when it flies:
1. Lift (pressure)
2. Weight (gravity)
3. Thrust (power)
4. Drag (pull)

When a plane is flying straight ahead, all forces are equal.

If you want to learn more about wings, go here:

http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/aerodynamics/q0005.shtml

mithun d

Aeroplane has wings because anaeroplane requires balancing while flying and at the same time it also requires a shape to float in the air like birds. so the aeroplanes have wings.

Punj@bi_pride

i dont know

statik_trance

good question !
a.plane has wings so two airplanes can maintain " one wing distance " from each other when flying side by side,

and also bcoz otherwise some people will think that a ,,,, submarine,,,, is flying in the air instead of sailing in water,,,,

barteq007

I think itâ€™s mostly for the decoration purposesâ€¦ Planes wouldnâ€™t look very esthetic without them.

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: