Aircraft
hideAn aircraft is a vehicle which is able to fly by being supported by the air, or in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift (as with balloons, blimps and dirigibles) or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil (as with vehicles that plane the air with wings in a straight manner, such as airplanes and gliders, or vehicles that generate lift with wings in a rotary manner, such as helicopters or gyrocopters).
Although rockets and missiles also travel through the atmosphere, they are not considered aircraft because they use rocket thrust instead of aerodynamic loading as the primary means of lift. A cruise missile relies on a lifting wing throughout the majority of its flight regime.
The human activity which surrounds aircraft is called aviation. Manned aircraft are flown by an onboard pilot. Unmanned aerial vehicles may be [[remotely controlled or self-controlled by onboard computers. Target drones are an example of UAVs.
For more information about Aircraft, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with aircraft
Alternative fuel 'can power 15% of flights by 2020'
Nov 17, 2009 |
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Alternative fuels could power 15 percent of global air traffic by 2020 and 30 percent by 2030, European aircraft-maker Airbus said at the Dubai Airshow on Tuesday.
Aircraft that can see for themselves (w/ Video)
Nov 14, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Australian researchers have made two important advances in the development of unmanned aircraft capable of seeing for themselves as they fly fast and low over dangerous terrain.
Energy-autonomous sensors for aircraft
Oct 01, 2009 |
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Aircraft maintenance will be easier in future, with sensors monitoring the aircraft skin. If they discover any dents or cracks they will send a radio message to a monitoring unit. The energy needed for this ...
Fla.-bound space shuttle Discovery stops in La.
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Sep 20, 2009 |
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(AP) -- The space shuttle Discovery is stopped for the night at Barksdale Air Force Base in Shreveport, La., as part of its cross-country flight to Florida.
Test of Futuristic X-48C is Historic Wind Tunnel's Swan Song
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Sep 18, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A historic wind tunnel at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., has been pressed into service one last time to help test the prototype of a new, more fuel-efficient, quieter aircraft ...
CU-Boulder Unmanned Aircraft Buzz Over Gigantic Holes in Antarctic Sea Ice
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Sep 10, 2009 |
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A series of record-setting unmanned research flights are providing University of Colorado at Boulder researchers with some of the first 3-D observations of gaping holes in the Antarctic sea ice known as polynyas ...
NOAA Locates U.S. Navy Ship Sunk in World War II Battle
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Sep 10, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A NOAA-led research mission has located and identified the final resting place of the YP-389, a U.S. Navy patrol boat sunk approximately 20 miles off the coast of Cape Hatteras, NC, by a German ...
Penetrating insights: NIST airframe tests help ensure better shielding for flight instruments
Aug 26, 2009 |
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Airline travelers are used to being instructed to turn off computers and cell phones during takeoffs and landings as a precaution against interfering with the plane’s navigational equipment, but outside sources ...
NRL's XFC UAS achieves flight endurance milestone
Aug 06, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) has completed a successful flight test of the fuel cell powered XFC (eXperimental Fuel Cell) unmanned aerial system (UAS). During the June 2 flight test, ...
Airborne expedition chases Arctic sea ice questions
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jul 17, 2009 |
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A small NASA aircraft completed its first successful science flight Thursday in partnership with the University of Colorado at Boulder as part of an expedition to study the receding Arctic sea ice and improve ...
Space radar techniques for land mapping
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Jul 17, 2009 |
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Entrepreneurs at ESA’s Business Incubation centre in the Netherlands have used radar technology from the agency’s Envisat remote-sensing satellite to develop a compact, high-resolution radar that can monitor ...
Superfast airplanes through super tiny technology
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Jul 13, 2009 |
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An interdisciplinary team of scientists led by Princeton engineers has been awarded a $3 million grant to study how fuel additives made of tiny particles known as nanocatalysts can help supersonic jets fly ...
World's first as fuel cell aircraft takes off in Germany
Jul 07, 2009 |
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The world's first piloted aircraft capable of taking to the air using only power from fuel cells took off in Germany Tuesday, producing zero carbon dioxide emissions, its makers said.
GE to open advanced tech center in Michigan
Jun 26, 2009 |
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General Electric announced plans Friday to open an "advanced manufacturing technology and software center" in Michigan that could create more than 1,100 job in the coming years.
Electric aircraft take to the air
Jun 11, 2009 |
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On the 1st of March 2009, a pair of electric aircraft had simultaneous maiden flights at Sywell Aerodrome near Northampton. These are the first electric aircraft to fly in the UK under the recently introduced ...
