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The concept of the flying wing was born on 16 February 1876 when French engineers Alphonse Pénaud and Paul Gauchot filed a patent for an aero-plane or flying aircraft [5] powered by two propellers and with all the characteristics of a flying wing as we know it today. [6] Tailless aircraft have been experimented with since the earliest attempts ...
A fixed-wing aircraft may have more than one wing plane, stacked one above another: Biplane: two wing planes of similar size, stacked one above the other. The biplane is inherently lighter and stronger than a monoplane and was the most common configuration until the 1930s. The very first Wright Flyer I was a biplane.
The word "wing" from the Old Norse vængr [1] for many centuries referred mainly to the foremost limbs of birds (in addition to the architectural aisle). But in recent centuries the word's meaning has extended to include lift producing appendages of insects, bats, pterosaurs, boomerangs, some sail boats and aircraft, or the airfoil on a race car.
Closed wing designs include the annular wing (commonly known as the cylindrical or ring wing), the joined wing, the box wing, and spiroid tip devices. [ 1 ] Like many wingtip devices , the closed wing aims to reduce the wasteful effects associated with wingtip vortices that occur at the tips of conventional wings.
In aeronautics, a canard is a wing configuration in which a small forewing or foreplane is placed forward of the main wing of a fixed-wing aircraft or a weapon. The term "canard" may be used to describe the aircraft itself, the wing configuration, or the foreplane. [1] [2] [3] Canard wings are also extensively used in guided missiles and smart ...
An airplane (North American English) or aeroplane (British English), informally plane, is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, propeller, or rocket engine. [1] Airplanes come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and wing configurations .
The original designs were in the form of a fixed slot near the leading edge of the wing, a design that was used on a number of STOL aircraft. During World War II, German aircraft commonly fitted a more advanced version of the slat that reduced drag by being pushed back flush against the leading edge of the wing by air pressure , popping out ...
Aircraft flight mechanics are relevant to fixed wing (gliders, aeroplanes) and rotary wing (helicopters) aircraft. An aeroplane ( airplane in US usage), is defined in ICAO Document 9110 as, "a power-driven heavier than air aircraft, deriving its lift chiefly from aerodynamic reactions on surface which remain fixed under given conditions of flight".