The body of Airplanes is shaped like a long tube and it is generally called a fuselage. The wheels of a plane are called the landing gear. There are two main wheel sets on either side of the plane fuselage and another at 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 set. Most landing gear can be folded into the fuselage during the flight and opened for landing.
All planes have wings and are also called airfoils. The wings are shaped with smooth surfaces and are shaped like an aerofoil. The curve at the top of wing ensures that air moves over the top of the wing more quickly than it does under the wing. As the wing moves, the air flowing over the top has farther to go and it moves faster than the air underneath the wing. So the air pressure above the wing becomes less than that below it. This produces the upward lift. The shape of the wings determines how fast and high the plane can fly.
During takeoff and landing the airplane’s speed is quite low. To keep the lift high and to avoid any objects on the ground, airplane designers try to increase the wing area and change the airfoil shape by putting some moving parts on the wings’ leading and trailing edges. The part on the leading edge is called a slat, while the part on the trailing edge is called a flap. The flaps and slats move along metal tracks built into the wings.
Moving the flaps toward the tail and the slats forward increases the wing area. Pivoting the leading edge of the slat and the trailing edge of the flap downward increases the effective camber of the airfoil, which increases the lift. In addition, the large aft-projected area of the flap increases the drag of the aircraft. This helps the airplane slow down for landing.
The hinged control surfaces are used to steer and control the airplane. The flaps and ailerons are connected to the backside of the wings. The flaps slide back and down to increase the surface of the wing area. They also tilt down to increase the curve of the wing. The slats move out from the front of the wings to make the wing space larger. This helps to increase the lifting force of the wing at slower speeds like takeoff and landing.
The ailerons are hinged on the wings and move downward to push the air down and make the wing tilt up. This moves the plane to the side and helps it turn during flight. After landing, the spoilers are used like air brakes to reduce any remaining lift and slow down the airplane. A spoiler is also called a lift dumper and is a device intended to reduce lift in an aircraft. Spoilers are plates on the top surface of a wing which can be extended upward into the airflow and spoil it.
The tail at the rear of the plane provides stability. The fin is the vertical part of the tail. The rudder at the back of the plane moves left and right to control the left or right movement of the plane. The elevators are found at the rear of the plane. They can be raised or lowered to change the direction of the plane’s nose. The plane will go up or down depending on the direction of that the elevators are moved.
