Aviation questions
How do planes fly?
Planes fly because of the wing: it's shaped and angled so air moves differently above it than below, and that difference creates the lift that holds the aircraft up.
That lift is an upward force strong enough to hold the whole aircraft off the ground, and there are two ways people explain it — both useful.
One is pressure: air passing over the curved top of the wing moves faster than the air underneath, so pressure above the wing drops and the difference pushes it upward. The other is Newton's third law: the wing is angled to deflect air downward as it passes, and the air pushes back up on the wing in return. Both describe the same physics, which is why lift builds with speed and with the angle the wing meets the air.
Engines simply keep enough air moving over the wing to sustain that lift, and different types of aircraft shape their wings very differently for the job at hand. If the mechanics of flight interest you as much as the aircraft itself, a technical-styled aircraft print makes a fitting piece for the wall.
Written by Craig Fearn, Aviation Gift Co.