Most people love the thrill of driving fast, sleek and powerful cars. I on the other hand,am a step ahead! I choose Planes.
I guess its the power of these marvelous machines,the speeds at which they can travel and the amazing manoeuvres they do that impresses me the most.
It is indeed true that the best job one can ever get is to be a Fighter Pilot. A lot of pilots wake up way too early in the morning, scramble up their fighter jets and push the throttles and raise thousands of feet above the ground only to see the Sun rise. Believe me, to see the Sun rise from the Cockpit of a Fighter Aircraft at 35,000 feet above the earth is a wonderful Experience.More than anything else the sensation is one of perfect peace mingled with an excitement that strains every nerve to the utmost. And this very moment that they enjoy is one of the reasons that makes me envy them. I wish i could have an experience as such one day.
We humans are basically content with a two-dimensional world, which is what we’ve always occupied. We travel mostly on the ground, have traffic jams, parking problems,and we’d do a lot better to look up a little bit because there is that great aerial highway that’s always ready to go, you don’t have to pave it and the benefits are very great. And that is when Aviation started.
WHAT IS IT THAT ALLOWS A PLANE TO FLY ???
Here is an interesting fact. A new plane developed by Airbus called A 380 is around 560 tons in weight and can carry 64,500 kilograms of payload. You have probably seen a lot of large aircrafts before. But, have you really asked yourself the exact question??? What makes these heavy metal birds climb thousands and thousands of feet into the air?Is it just the massive engines or the large wingspan?
Most people understand that it is the wings that allow the plane to fly and the engines allow it to move forward. This is ofcourse a good knowledge for an average enthusiast.
But its just not that..there is more.
There are 4 forces acting on an airplane. They are:
1. Lift
2. Thrust
3. Weight
4. Drag
Lets start with the Lift and work our way from there. The wing itself does not generate Lift,but its the shape of the wing. The Wing is shaped like an Airfoil. In forward flight, the wind moving above the wing,called as Relative wind,moves faster than the wind flowing below the wing. Airfoil structure forces the wind to move faster over the wings. Slow moving air below the wing is forced to put more pressure on the wings than the air flowing above it. This in turn creates Lift. This is the Bernoulli's Principle.
So the wings create Lift while the engines produce Thrust. These 2 forces help the plane to fly. In common language, to say; When the weight of the airplane is as little as that of a feather,only then you can go flying.Now, lets look at the other side of that, counteracting to Lift and Thrust.
Material used to build the plane along with Fuel, Baggage and Passenger Weight all add upp to form the Gross Weight of the plane. This along with Gravity all act as Weight.
Condition to Fly: 1. Lift >= Weight
Drag is the opposite of Thrust. Drag is created simply by the existence of the aircraft. It is the object's natural desire to resist moving through a fluid such as Air.
Condition to Fly: 2. Thrust>= Drag
Now lets try to Fly an Airplane.
While the Plane is still taxiing on the runway,it is moving at a very slow speed.Hence, its Lift is still less than the Weight of the Aircraft.
As the plane is accelerated, Thrust is now very large compared to Drag(Condition 2 Satisfied)and the Lift starts to increase gradually. But as the Speed increases, Lift is greater than the Weight(Condition 1 satisfied).
Now that the both conditions required to fly are satisfied,the giant beast is pushed into the air. As long as both the conditions are satisfied, the Plane continues its safe flight to the destination.
Well, now that you know the Physics behind how a Plane can fly, the next time you sit in one, you better be thinking how along with the anxiety that the plane might Crash !!!Now,anybody who is interested in Planes can explain the Dynamics of Flight, but what Flying can really do to the spirit of a Man is way beyond description.
Can the magic of Flying be ever carried by words??? I don't think so.
