How Does a Jet Take Flight?

Airplanes operate partly on the basis of lift and thrust. To go up, the speed of the air over the top of a wing needs to go slower than the air under the wing, thereby creating lift. However, in order to trigger the process, you have to utilize some kind of power to move the airplane through the air, and this is where thrust comes in.
  1. Jet Engines Create Thrust

    • A jet engine is essentially a progressively smaller pipe through which air flows. The trick is to compress the air, combine it with fuel, ignite it, then direct it out of the back of the pipe at an even higher speed. This resultant airflow is called thrust, and it pushes an airplane forward according to principles set out in Newton's Third Law Of Motion.

    Lift and Thrust Is All - Right?

    • Along with lift and thrust, there is another component that is essential to take off called angle of attack. This is also called "pitch," which is controlled by a device called an "elevator." It is found in the back of the jet.

    Elevator Going Up?

    • The elevator changes the way that the wing experiences the lifting value of the airflow by altering the up or down angle of the airplane. This response is called managing positive or negative pitch. When the pilot pulls back on the control stick, the elevator at the back goes up, the nose goes up, and the wing produces more lift.

    Turning Is Good, Too

    • To turn, the airplane uses ailerons, which are small surfaces that move up or down at the back of the wing and manage what is called "roll." When the pilot turns the control wheel, or moves the stick left or right, the ailerons respond accordingly. For example, to turn left, when the pilot turns the control wheel, the left aileron pitches down while the right aileron pitches up. When that happens, the left wing drops, the right wing lifts up, and the whole airplane rolls, or "banks" to the left.

    Balancing The Whole Deal

    • Flying a jet is dependent on balancing all of the previously mentioned dynamic forces, along with the controls that manage them. Therefore, to take flight, a pilot first creates thrust by calling for full power from the jet. Once the airplane is rolling forward at an predesignated speed, the pilot pulls back on the controls to change the angle of attack of the wing to create the appropriate amount of lifting power necessary to overcome gravity. When this appropriate lifting value is reached, the wing will lift the airplane off the ground. Once off the ground, the pilot manages the airplane's course by rolling left or right through application of the ailerons.

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