Aircraft
You can see more aircraft on the deltawing planes page ginormous planes page, on the helicopters page, on the unmanned aircraft page, and on the experimental aircraft page. You can also find out about the famous aviators Amy Johnson and Lillian Todd, and how things fly.
Thunderbirds
The Thunderbirds is an aerobatics display team. This team is made up of pilots from the United States Air Force (USAF). They are like Britain's Red Arrows.
The Thunderbirds team currently fly F-16 Fighting Falcons. F-16 are still used by the USAF for normal missions. The Thunderbirds' F-16s are brightly coloured and each plane has a bird painted on its underside. F-16s can fly over 1,320 miles per hour (mph). This is twice the speed of sound or Mach 2.
The Thunderbirds team currently fly F-16 Fighting Falcons. F-16 are still used by the USAF for normal missions. The Thunderbirds' F-16s are brightly coloured and each plane has a bird painted on its underside. F-16s can fly over 1,320 miles per hour (mph). This is twice the speed of sound or Mach 2.
Rare Bear - the fastest piston-powered propeller plane
Image by Jon 'ShakataGaNai' Davis [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons
Rare Bear's top speed is 528 miles per hour. It is the fastest plane with a propeller that is powered by a piston engine.
Rare Bear was a navy plane, a bit like Skipper Riley in Planes. It flew for about 20 years until it crashed next to a runway in 1962.
Six years later, Lyle Shelton saw the wreck. He decided he was going to buy the wrecked plane and rebuild it. Not only did he put it back together again but he also modified it. Lyle wanted to race the plane so he put in a better engine.
Over the years Rare Bear has flown in many air races and it has got faster and faster. This is because its mechanics have kept making the engine more powerful and kept making the plane lighter. It's got lighter because old heavy parts have been replaced with lighter parts.
Dusty's propeller and his aircraft friends' propellers are powered by pistons. Dusty looks a little like this propeller plane. This is the Dromader plane. Its engine has pistons in a circle. You can see the metal cylinders that the pistons are inside.
"South Dakota M-18B Dromader" by Hustvedt - Own work. Licensed under GFDL via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:South_Dakota_M-18B_Dromader.jpg#mediaviewer/File:South_Dakota_M-18B_Dromader.jpg
There are a few types of piston engines for planes. We are going to look at a type of piston engine called a radial engine. All pistons are inside metal cylinders.
The pistons are connected to rods. Rods are connected to a big rod called a crankshaft. As the pistons are moving up and down the rods are moving up and down and this turns the crankshaft. The turning crankshaft turns the propeller.
- Suck: Air and fuel are mixed together and a hole opens to let the fuel mixture go into the cylinders. As the mixture is sucked in, it pushes the piston down.
- Squeeze: The piston then comes back up squeezing the air and fuel into a small space.
- Bang: Then the sparkplug sets the air and fuel mixture on fire (the bang). The burning fuel releases gas. The gas pushes down the piston.
- Blow: As the piston comes up again another hole opens to blow out the exhaust gas. The cycle is complete and we go back to step number 1.
The pistons are connected to rods. Rods are connected to a big rod called a crankshaft. As the pistons are moving up and down the rods are moving up and down and this turns the crankshaft. The turning crankshaft turns the propeller.
Piston power!
The fastest jet-powered propeller planes - the Tupolev Tu 95 and 142
Tupolev Tu-142 'the Bear'
Tupolev Tu-95
The two Tupolev planes can fly 575 miles per hour. The two types are still flying today although no more will be produced. Each plane has 4 engines. Each engine has two propellers - see picture below. One propeller turns clockwise and the other turns anti-clockwise.
These planes use turboprop engines. A turboprop engine works very differently to a piston engine. 'Prop' is short for propeller and 'turbo' is short for turbine, which is part of the turboprop engine.
How a turboprop engine works
- Air goes into the engine and is squeezed (compressed) into a smaller space by rotating blades as it moves through the compressor part of the engine.
- When the air reaches the combustion chamber, jet fuel is pumped into the chamber and the jet fuel and air mixture is set alight.
- The burning fuel releases hot gas and this rushes through the turbine causing the turbine blades to spin.
- This turns the shaft which turns the propeller and pulls the plane forward. It also turns the blades of the compressor.
- When the gas passes through the turbine it has slowed down but it is still fast enough to help push the plane forward.
Tupolev Tu-114
The plane flew in the 1950s and 1960s. It could fly 540 miles per hour. It was the largest and fastest passenger plane at that time beating planes with normal jet engines.
"Aeroflot Tupolev Tu-114 JAL livery APM" by Aviation Photography of Miami - http://www.airlinefan.com/airline-photos/large/1003909/Aeroflot/Tupolev/Tu-114/CCCP-76490/. Licensed under GFDL 1.2 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aeroflot_Tupolev_Tu-114_JAL_livery_APM.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Aeroflot_Tupolev_Tu-114_JAL_livery_APM.jpg
Light aircraft with turboprop engines
Pilatus is one aircraft company that makes light turboprop planes. Pilatus planes are made in Switzerland.
The Beechcraft Starship below has turboprop engines.
Beechcraft Starship
The Starship has two small wings at the front and two big wings at the back. Its two propeller engines are at the back. These rear propellers push the plane forwards. Beechcraft decided not to have a tail at the back. Instead it chose to have a winglet at the end of each wing,
Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons. Click on images for attribution details.
The small front wings are called canards. The canards can move. The tips can point out to the side and move back so they are pointing diagonally.
Canard is a French word that means duck. Many years ago a French person thought one of the first planes to have these front wings looked like a duck. Then more and more people said canard until everyone did.
Canard is a French word that means duck. Many years ago a French person thought one of the first planes to have these front wings looked like a duck. Then more and more people said canard until everyone did.
The first Starship flew in 1989, over twenty years ago. Beechcraft stopped making them in 1995 because it did not sell many. Luckily a few Starships still fly today. There are a few rich people who own them and look after them because they love how they look.
Piaggio P-180 Avanti
The Piaggio is similar to the Beechcraft Starship. It is another turboprop plane. These planes are made in Italy and are mainly used in Italy. A few planes have been sold to people in other countries. In Poland it is used for their Medical Air Rescue service.
Turbojet engine
The SR-71 Blackbird and Concorde are examples of supersonic aircraft that had turbojet engines.
Britten-Norman Trislander (said Tri-lander)
Britten-Norman is the name of the company. Trislander is the name of the aircraft. Trislander is a play on words. Tri means three for the three engines. Islander means a person living on an Island. The plane was built for flights to and from islands because the plane only needs a short runway to take off and land. We call this type of plane an STOL aircraft.
A Flying Wing - the Northrop N9MB
This aircraft was built in 1944. Only four planes of this type were built. All the planes were prototypes. This means Northrop used them to see if they could fly as the company thought they should be able to fly. This is why the plane is so small. It is one third (1/3) of the size of the plane that Northrop had hoped to build and sell. Northrop never built a full size propeller plane of this type, which would have been 3 times bigger.
Although the plane had not worked for years, it was bought by the Planes of Fame Air Museum in the 1980s. It took over 10 years for museum staff and volunteers to restore the plane. The plane is now over 70 years old. It is the only one left so we can say it is unique or one of a kind.
Although the plane had not worked for years, it was bought by the Planes of Fame Air Museum in the 1980s. It took over 10 years for museum staff and volunteers to restore the plane. The plane is now over 70 years old. It is the only one left so we can say it is unique or one of a kind.
The most famous plane with propellers at the back
The first plane with a pilot and an engine used propellers that were at the back and pushed the plane forward.
Seaplanes and flying boats
Photos taken by other people - see attribution at bottom of page.
A flying boat for many jobs
The Beriev Be-200 plane can do many jobs. It can carry cargo or passengers. It's great in an emergency because it can carry and dump lots of water to fight fires or it can become an air ambulance that carries up to 30 patients and seven medical crew. It can also search for and rescue people lost at sea because it can be equipped with searchlights, an inflatable boat, surveillance systems, and medical equipment.
When it's fighting fires it carries eight water tanks in the centre of the fuselage. It can fill up with water by scooping up water from the sea or a lake. Or the tanks can be filled when it's on the ground at its airbase.
When it's fighting fires it carries eight water tanks in the centre of the fuselage. It can fill up with water by scooping up water from the sea or a lake. Or the tanks can be filled when it's on the ground at its airbase.
"A-90 Orlyonok 4" by Mike1979 Russia - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
"A-90 Orlyonok" by Kaboldy - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
Planes slideshow
See a selection of unusual aeroplanes. Just click on play in the top left corner of the picture.
Autogyro also called gyroplane or gyrocopter
Modern autogyros have rotor blades on top and a propeller at the back. The propeller causes the autogyro to go forwards. As the autogyro moves along, the air rushes past the rotor blades. The rushing air causes the rotor blades to spin round and lift the autogyro up into the air. The rotor blades continue to spin round when the autogyro is in the sky.
Microlights
People fly microlights for fun. A microlight has a propeller. The propeller is either at the back or in the middle behind the pilot.
Aeroplane uses the sun to fly!
This aeroplane turns the light from the sun into electricity. The electricity makes the propellers turn so it can fly. The top of the wings are covered with panels. These panels are what traps the light and turns it into electricity.
This plane's name is the Solar Impulse. It is the best sun-powered plane because it can fly for longer than any other sun-powered plane.
There are sun-powered cars too!
A rocket-assisted take-off.
Rockets help heavy planes to take off when the runway is too short for a normal take-off.
Flying car videos
The AeroMobil
This flying car was created by an engineer Stefan Klein in Slovakia. He used to work for Audi and BMW. But he decided he needed to work for himself so he could create a flying car. This is not his first flying car. He has spent twenty years designing, building and modifying his flying cars. This is the fourth model.
You just press a button to change the car into a plane: the wings move forward and the engine stops driving the wheels and starts turning the rear propeller. A pilot and a passenger can fit into the snug cockpit.
You just press a button to change the car into a plane: the wings move forward and the engine stops driving the wheels and starts turning the rear propeller. A pilot and a passenger can fit into the snug cockpit.
The PAL-V flying car
PAL-V stands for Personal Air and Land Vehicle. It seats 2 people and drives like a motorbike because it can tilt left and right. It flies like an autogyro as it has rotor blades and a rear propeller.
ParaJet Skycar
The ParaJet Skycar is also called SkyRunner. It is a dune buggy that can fly by using a rear propeller and a paraglider wing.
Icon A5
The Icon A5 is an amphibious plane. Its wings can swivel and fold back so it can go on roads.
Terrafugia Transition
The flying car of the future.
One company's idea of what a flying car will look like in the future.
Dornia Seastar on runway photo taken by Oliver Grzimek. GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons.
Dornia Seastar on water photo by Rschider (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.
Beriev plane on water by Yevgeny Pashnin (Yevgeny Pashnin, [email protected]) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons.
"Beriev A-40, Beriev Design Bureau AN0667816" by Leonid Faerberg - Russian AviaPhoto Team - Gallery page http://www.airliners.net/photo/Beriev-Design-Bureau/Beriev-A-40/0667816/LPhoto http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/6/1/8/0667816.jpg. Licensed under GNU Free Documentation License 1.2 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Beriev_A-40,_Beriev_Design_Bureau_AN0667816.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Beriev_A-40,_Beriev_Design_Bureau_AN0667816.jpg
"Be-42 rear view - Fairford 96" by Nigel Ish - Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Be-42_rear_view_-_Fairford_96.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Be-42_rear_view_-_Fairford_96.jpg
"Be-103 RA-01855 (10148961905)" by Aleksandr Markin - Be-103 RA-01855Uploaded by russavia. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Be-103_RA-01855_(10148961905).jpg#mediaviewer/File:Be-103_RA-01855_(10148961905).jpg
"Beriev Be-103, Beriev Sea Airlines AN1784417" by Oleg V. Belyakov - AirTeamImages - Gallery page http://www.airliners.net/photo/Beriev-Sea-Airlines/Beriev-Be-103/1784417/LPhoto http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/7/1/4/1784417.jpg. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Beriev_Be-103,_Beriev_Sea_Airlines_AN1784417.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Beriev_Be-103,_Beriev_Sea_Airlines_AN1784417.jpg
Dornia Seastar on water photo by Rschider (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.
Beriev plane on water by Yevgeny Pashnin (Yevgeny Pashnin, [email protected]) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons.
"Beriev A-40, Beriev Design Bureau AN0667816" by Leonid Faerberg - Russian AviaPhoto Team - Gallery page http://www.airliners.net/photo/Beriev-Design-Bureau/Beriev-A-40/0667816/LPhoto http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/6/1/8/0667816.jpg. Licensed under GNU Free Documentation License 1.2 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Beriev_A-40,_Beriev_Design_Bureau_AN0667816.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Beriev_A-40,_Beriev_Design_Bureau_AN0667816.jpg
"Be-42 rear view - Fairford 96" by Nigel Ish - Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Be-42_rear_view_-_Fairford_96.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Be-42_rear_view_-_Fairford_96.jpg
"Be-103 RA-01855 (10148961905)" by Aleksandr Markin - Be-103 RA-01855Uploaded by russavia. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Be-103_RA-01855_(10148961905).jpg#mediaviewer/File:Be-103_RA-01855_(10148961905).jpg
"Beriev Be-103, Beriev Sea Airlines AN1784417" by Oleg V. Belyakov - AirTeamImages - Gallery page http://www.airliners.net/photo/Beriev-Sea-Airlines/Beriev-Be-103/1784417/LPhoto http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/7/1/4/1784417.jpg. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Beriev_Be-103,_Beriev_Sea_Airlines_AN1784417.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Beriev_Be-103,_Beriev_Sea_Airlines_AN1784417.jpg