Researched by EthanW.
2003-04

• PURPOSE 
• HYPOTHESIS 
• EXPERIMENT DESIGN 
• MATERIALS 
• PROCEDURES 
• RESULTS 
• CONCLUSION 

• RESEARCH REPORT 
• BIBLIOGRAPHY 
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

• ABOUT THE RESEARCHER

Introduction

Humans have a need for transportation, on land, sea, and air. Society needs to move people and goods from one location to another safely and quickly. No one wants to pay high prices for air travel, especially when more than half of it is for gas. That is why we need to develop a plane that has the most amount of lift with the least amount of drag

Four Forces

There are four forces that act on a plane when it is in the air.   They are thrust, lift, gravity and drag.  

Thrust is the force that pulls a plane forward. It is usually created by the propeller or the jet.

The force that works against thrust is drag. Drag is the force of resistance that occurs when something is moving. Air slides across the wings therefore slowing it down. Drag is a form of friction.   Forms of friction include sliding friction, static friction, rolling friction, and fluid friction or drag. To reduce drag you need to make the shape of the wing more aerodynamic.  

Lift is very important in flying a plane. Without lift the plane wouldn’t be able to make it off the ground or stay airborne.

The forth force is gravity. This is what opposes lift by making it fall to the ground.
 

Wing Design

Wing design plays a big part in lift and drag. You have to have exactly the right shape and size to be able to produce lift.  

Angle is also important in wing design. The bigger the plane is the more the wings will be swept back. If you ever pay attention to wings when you’re at an airport, you’ll notice that on small private planes the wings are usually at a 90 ° angle and a Boeing 747’s wings would be swept in closer to the fuselage. On military aircrafts the wings can go from a 90 ° angle to swept in. This enables the planes to fly at supersonic speeds and to take off in little space.  

Probably the most important part of wing design is the shape of the wings. Without the airfoil shape that the wings make they would not be able to fly efficiently.  

History of Flight
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Motorized manned flight first began in 1903 on a beach in Kitty Hawk, NC when Orville and Wilber Wright flew for 12 seconds. It wasn’t a very long time but it made a huge impact on flight. After that planes were mostly used by daredevils for entertainment. The first real purpose for planes came into effect at the end of World War 1 as spies and aerial attackers. A few years later planes were used for mail and few passengers because most people thought it to be unsafe. The next several years in aviation consisted of convincing people that flying was safe. Planes played a big part in World War I and World War II to all countries.

Summary

Today planes are a fun and efficient way to get from place to place.   Every year planes become more and more sophisticated but there is stillroom to improve the designs by reducing high amounts of drag. It is nearly impossible to totally eliminate drag because friction is everywhere and air friction increases as planes are made to go faster. But if we could develop a very low friction plane it would probably cut gas prices in half and make people happier. The way to do this is to bring the wings in closer to the fuselage.
 

“Airplane”  Britannica Intermediate Encyclopedia

“Airplane”  Young Students Learning Library

“Aviation”  Young Students Learning Library

Challoner, Jack Flight. New York: Thompson Learning, 1995

Martin, Richard A. “Bernoulli’s Principle”   World Book Encyclopedia, 2002

Stekeetee, Drew  "Airplane," World Book Encyclopedia,  1999.

Tipp, Thomas M. “Airplane” ENCARTA Encyclopedia Deluxe, 2001

“Wind Tunnels” How to Build a Wind Tunnel
http://ldaps. arc. nasa. gov/Curriculum/cheap_tunnel/winddir.html