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Showing posts from November, 2015
How Did We Learn to Fly Like the Birds? Myths and Legends of Flight Greek Legend - Pegasus Bellerophon the Valiant, son of the King of Corinth, captured Pegasus, a winged horse. Pegasus took him to a battle with the triple headed monster, Chimera. Icarus and Daedalus - An Ancient Greek Legend Daedalus was an engineer who was imprisoned by King Minos. With his son, Icarus, he made wings of wax and feathers. Daedalus flew successfully from Crete to Naples, but Icarus, tired to fly too high and flew too near to the sun. The wings of wax melted and Icarus fell to his death in the ocean. King Kaj Kaoos of Persia King Kaj Kaoos attached eagles to his throne and flew around his kingdom. Alexander the Great Alexander the Great harnessed four mythical wings animals, called Griffins, to a basket and flew around his realm. Early Efforts of Flight Around 400 BC - China The discovery of the kite that could fly in the air by the Chinese started humans

Parts of a Plane

Airplanes Parts of a Plane The body of the plane is called the fuselage . It is generally a long tube shape. The wheels of a plane are called the landing gear . There are two main wheels on either side of the plane fuselage. Then there is one more wheel near the front of the plane. The brakes for the wheels are like the brakes for cars. They are operated by pedals, one for each wheel. Most landing gear can be folded into the fuselage during the flight and opened for landing. All planes have wings . The wings are shaped with smooth surfaces. The smooth surfaces are slightly curved from the front or leading edge, to the back or trailing edge. Air moving around the wing produces the upward lift for the airplane. The shape of the wings determines how fast and high the plane can fly. A cut through the wing from front to back is called an airfoil . The hinged cont

Welcome to the Beginner's Guide to Aerodynamics

Welcome to the Beginner's Guide to Aerodynamics What is aerodynamics? The word comes from two Greek words: aerios , concerning the air, and dynamis , which means force. Aerodynamics is the study of forces and the resulting motion of objects through the air. Judging from the story of Daedalus and Icarus, humans have been interested in aerodynamics and flying for thousands of years, although flying in a heavier-than-air machine has been possible only in the last hundred years. Aerodynamics affects the motion of a large airliner, a model rocket, a beach ball thrown near the shore, or a kite flying high overhead. The curveball thrown by big league baseball pitchers gets its curve from aerodynamics.