Flight

For other uses, see Flight (disambiguation).

Flight is the process by which an object moves

through an atmosphere (or beyond it, as in the
case of spaceflight) without contact with the
surface. This can be achieved by generating
aerodynamic lift associated with propulsive
thrust, aerostatically using buoyancy, or by
ballistic movement.
Natural flight: a hummingbird
Many things can fly, from natural aviators such
as birds, bats, and insects, to human inventions like aircraft, including
airplanes, helicopters, balloons, and rockets which may carry spacecraft.

The engineering aspects of flight are the purview of aerospace engineering

which is subdivided into aeronautics, the study of vehicles that travel through
the air, and astronautics, the study of vehicles that travel through space, and
in ballistics, the study of the flight of projectiles.

Types of flight
Buoyant flight

Main article: Aerostat

Humans have managed to construct lighter than air vehicles that raise off the
ground and fly, due to their buoyancy in air.

An aerostat is a system that remains aloft primarily through the use of

buoyancy to give an aircraft the same overall density as air. Aerostats include
free balloons, airships, and moored balloons. An aerostat's main structural
component is its envelope, a lightweight skin that encloses a volume of lifting
gas[1][2] to provide buoyancy, to which other components are attached.

Aerostats are so named because they use "aerostatic" lift, a buoyant force that
does not require lateral movement through the surrounding air mass to effect
a lifting force. By contrast, aerodynes primarily use aerodynamic lift, which
requires the lateral movement of at least some part of the aircraft through the
surrounding air mass.

Aerodynamic flight

Unpowered flight versus powered flight

Main article: Unpowered flight

Some things that fly do not generate propulsive thrust through the air, for
example, the flying squirrel. This is termed gliding. Some other things can
exploit rising air to climb such as raptors (when gliding) and man-made
sailplane gliders. This is termed soaring. However most other birds and all
powered aircraft need a source of propulsion to climb. This is termed
powered flight.

Animal flight

Main article: Flying and gliding animals

The only groups of living things that use powered flight are birds, insects, and
bats, while many groups have evolved gliding. The extinct Pterosaurs, an
order of reptiles contemporaneous with the dinosaurs, were also very
successful flying animals. Each of these groups' wings evolved independently.
The wings of the flying vertebrate groups are all based on the forelimbs, but
differ significantly in structure; those of insects are hypothesized to be highly
modified versions of structures that form gills in most other groups of
arthropods.[3]

Bats are the only mammals capable of sustaining level flight.[4] However,
there are several gliding mammals which are able to glide from tree to tree
using fleshy membranes between their limbs; some can travel hundreds of
meters in this way with very little loss in height. Flying frogs use greatly
enlarged webbed feet for a similar purpose, and there are flying lizards which
fold out their mobile ribs into a pair of flat gliding surfaces. "Flying" snakes
also use mobile ribs to flatten their body into an aerodynamic shape, with a
back and forth motion much the same as they use on the ground.

Flying fish can glide using enlarged wing-like fins, and have been observed
soaring for hundreds of meters. It is thought that this ability was chosen by
natural selection because it was an effective means of escape from
underwater predators. The longest recorded flight of a flying fish was 45
seconds.[5]

Most birds fly (see bird flight), with some exceptions. The largest birds, the
ostrich and the emu, are earthbound, as were the now-extinct dodos and the
Phorusrhacids, which were the dominant predators of South America in the
Cenozoic era. The non-flying penguins have wings adapted for use under
water and use the same wing movements for swimming that most other birds
use for flight.[citation needed] Most small flightless birds are native to small
islands, and lead a lifestyle where flight would offer little advantage.

Among living animals that fly, the wandering albatross has the greatest
wingspan, up to 3.5 meters (11 feet); the great bustard has the greatest
weight, topping at 21 kilograms (46 pounds).[6]

Most species of insects can fly as adults. Insect flight makes use of either of
two basic aerodynamic models: creating a leading edge vortex, found in most
insects, and using clap and fling, found in very small insects such as thrips.[7]
[8]

Mechanical

Main article: Aviation

Mechanical flight is the use of a machine to fly. These machines include
aircraft such as airplanes, gliders, helicopters, autogyros, airships, balloons,
ornithopters as well as spacecraft. Gliders are capable of unpowered flight.
Another form of mechanical flight is para-sailing where a parachute-like
object is pulled by a boat. In an airplane, lift is created by the wings; the
shape of the wings of the airplane are designed specially for the type of flight
desired. There are different types of wings: tempered, semi-tempered,
sweptback, rectangular and elliptical. An aircraft wing is sometimes called an
airfoil, which is a device that creates lift when air flows across it.

Supersonic

Main article: Supersonic speed

Supersonic flight is flight faster than the speed of sound. Supersonic flight is
associated with the formation of shock waves that form a sonic boom that can
be heard from the ground,[9] and is frequently startling. This shockwave takes
quite a lot of energy to create and this makes supersonic flight generally less
efficient than subsonic flight at about 85% of the speed of sound.

Hypersonic

Main article: Hypersonic speed

Hypersonic flight is very high speed flight where the heat generated by the
compression of the air due to the motion through the air causes chemical
changes to the air. Hypersonic flight is achieved by reentering spacecraft such
as the Space Shuttle and Soyuz.

Ballistic

Main article: Ballistics

Atmospheric
Some things generate little or no lift and move only or mostly under the
action of momentum, gravity, air drag and in some cases thrust. This is
termed ballistic flight. Examples include balls, arrows, bullets, fireworks etc.

Spaceflight

Main article: Spaceflight

Essentially an extreme form of ballistic flight, spaceflight is the use of space

technology to achieve the flight of spacecraft into and through outer space.
Examples include ballistic missiles, orbital spaceflight etc.

Spaceflight is used in space exploration, and also in commercial activities like

space tourism and satellite telecommunications. Additional non-commercial
uses of spaceflight include space observatories, reconnaissance satellites and
other earth observation satellites.

A spaceflight typically begins with a rocket launch, which provides the initial
thrust to overcome the force of gravity and propels the spacecraft from the
surface of the Earth.[10] Once in space, the motion of a spacecraft—both when
unpropelled and when under propulsion—is covered by the area of study
called astrodynamics. Some spacecraft remain in space indefinitely, some
disintegrate during atmospheric reentry, and others reach a planetary or
lunar surface for landing or impact.

History
Many human cultures have built devices that fly, from the earliest projectiles
such as stones and spears,[11][12] the boomerang in Australia, the hot air
Kongming lantern, and kites.

Aviation

Main article: Aviation history

George Cayley studied flight scientifically in the first half of the 19th century,
[13][14][15] and in the second half of the 19th century Otto Lilienthal made over

200 gliding flights and was also one of the first to understand flight
scientifically. His work was replicated and extended by the Wright brothers
who made gliding flights and finally the first controlled and extended,
manned powered flights.[16]

Spaceflight

Main article: History of spaceflight

Spaceflight, particularly human spaceflight became a reality in the 20th

century following theoretical and practical breakthroughs by Konstantin
Tsiolkovsky and Robert H. Goddard. The first orbital spaceflight was in
1957[17], and Yuri Gagarin was carried aboard the first manned orbital
spaceflight in 1961.[18]

Physics
Main article: Aerodynamics

There are different approaches to flight. If an object has a lower density than
air, then it is buoyant and is able to float in the air without expending energy.
A heavier than air craft, known as an aerodyne, includes flighted animals and
insects, fixed-wing aircraft and rotorcraft. Because the craft is heavier than
air, it must generate lift to overcome its weight. The wind resistance caused
by the craft moving through the air is called drag and is overcome by
propulsive thrust except in the case of gliding.

Some vehicles also use thrust for flight, for example rockets and Harrier
Jump Jets.

Finally, momentum dominates the flight of ballistic flying objects.

Forces

Main article: Aerodynamics

Forces relevant to flight are[19]

Propulsive thrust (except in gliders)

Lift, created by the reaction to an airflow
Drag, created by aerodynamic friction
Weight, created by gravity
Buoyancy, for lighter than air flight

These forces must be balanced for stable flight to occur.

Thrust

Main article: Thrust

A fixed-wing aircraft generates forward thrust when air is pushed in the

direction opposite to flight. This can be done in several ways including by the
spinning blades of a propeller, or a rotating fan pushing air out from the back
of a jet engine, or by ejecting hot gases from a rocket engine.[20] The forward
thrust is proportional to the mass of the airstream multiplied by the
difference in velocity of the airstream. Reverse thrust can be generated to aid
braking after landing by reversing the pitch of variable-pitch propeller blades,
or using a thrust reverser on a jet engine. Rotary wing aircraft and thrust
vectoring V/STOL aircraft use engine thrust to support the weight of the
aircraft, and vector sum of this thrust fore and aft to control forward speed.

Lift

Main article: lift (force)

In the context of an air flow relative to a flying body, the lift force is the
component of the aerodynamic force that is perpendicular to the flow
direction.[21] Aerodynamic lift results
when the wing causes the surrounding
air to be deflected - the air then causes
a force on the wing in the opposite
direction, in accordance with Newton's
third law of motion.
Lift is defined as the component of the total
Lift is commonly associated with the aerodynamic force perpendicular to the flow
wing of an aircraft, although lift is also direction, and drag is the component parallel
to the flow direction
generated by rotors on rotorcraft
(which are effectively rotating wings, performing the same function without
requiring that the aircraft move forward through the air). While common
meanings of the word "lift" suggest that lift opposes gravity, aerodynamic lift
can be in any direction. When an aircraft is cruising for example, lift does
oppose gravity, but lift occurs at an angle when climbing, descending or
banking. On high-speed cars, the lift force is directed downwards (called
"down-force") to keep the car stable on the road.

Lift can also occur in a different way if the air is not still, especially if there is
an updraft due to heat ("thermals") or wind blowing along sloping terrain or
other meteorological conditions. This form of lift permits soaring and is
particularly important for gliding. It is used by birds and gliders to stay in the
air for long periods with little effort.

Drag

Main article: Drag (physics)

For a solid object moving through a fluid, the drag is the component of the
net aerodynamic or hydrodynamic force acting opposite to the direction of
the movement.[22][23][24][25] Therefore, drag opposes the motion of the object,
and in a powered vehicle it must be overcome by thrust. The process which
creates lift also causes some drag.
Lift-to-drag ratio

Main article: Lift-to-drag ratio

Aerodynamic lift is created by the motion of an aerodynamic object (wing)

through the air, which due to its shape and angle deflects the air. For
sustained straight and level flight, lift must be equal and opposite to weight.
In general, long narrow wings are able deflect a large amount of air at a slow
speed, whereas smaller wings need a higher forward speed to deflect an
equivalent amount of air and thus generate an equivalent amount of lift.
Large cargo aircraft tend to use longer wings with higher angles of attack,
whereas supersonic aircraft tend to have short wings and rely heavily on high
forward speed to generate lift.

However, this lift (deflection) process inevitably causes a retarding force

called drag. Because lift and drag are both aerodynamic forces, the ratio of lift
to drag is an indication of the aerodynamic efficiency of the airplane. The lift
to drag ratio is the L/D ratio, pronounced "L over D ratio." An airplane has a
high L/D ratio if it produces a large amount of lift or a small amount of drag.
The lift/drag ratio is determined by dividing the lift coefficient by the drag
coefficient, CL/CD. [26]

The lift coefficient Cl is equal to the lift L divided by the (density r times half
the velocity V squared times the wing area A). [Cl = L / (A * .5 * r * V^2)] The
lift coefficient is also affected by the compressibility of the air, which is much
greater at higher speeds, so velocity V is not a linear function. Compressibility
is also affected by the shape of the aircraft surfaces. [27]

The drag coefficient Cd is equal to the drag D divided by the (density r times
half the velocity V squared times the reference area A). [Cd = D / (A * .5 * r *
V^2)] [28]

Lift-to-drag ratios for practical aircraft vary from about 4:1 for vehicles and
birds with relatively short wings, up to 60:1 or more for vehicles with very
long wings, such as gliders. A greater angle of attack relative to the forward
movement also increases the extent of deflection, and thus generates extra
lift. However a greater angle of attack also generates extra drag.

Lift/drag ratio also determines the glide ratio and gliding range. Since the
glide ratio is based only on the relationship of the aerodynamics forces acting
on the aircraft, aircraft weight will not affect it. The only effect weight has is
to vary the time that the aircraft will glide for – a heavier aircraft gliding at a
higher airspeed will arrive at the same touchdown point in a shorter time. [29]

Buoyancy

Main article: Buoyancy

Air pressure acting up against an object in air is greater than the pressure
above pushing down. The buoyancy, in both cases, is equal to the weight of
fluid displaced - Archimedes' principle holds for air just as it does for water.

A cubic meter of air at ordinary atmospheric pressure and room temperature

has a mass of about 1.2 kilograms, so its weight is about 12 newtons.
Therefore, any 1-cubic-meter object in air is buoyed up with a force of 12
newtons. If the mass of the 1-cubic-meter object is greater than 1.2 kilograms
(so that its weight is greater than 12 newtons), it falls to the ground when
released. If an object of this size has a mass less than 1.2 kilograms, it rises in
the air. Any object that has a mass that is less than the mass of an equal
volume of air will rise in air - in other words, any object less dense than air
will rise.

Thrust to weight ratio

Main article: Thrust-to-weight ratio

Thrust-to-weight ratio is, as its name suggests, the ratio of instantaneous

thrust to weight (where weight means weight at the Earth's standard
acceleration ).[30] It is a dimensionless parameter characteristic of rockets
and other jet engines and of vehicles propelled by such engines (typically
space launch vehicles and jet aircraft).

If the thrust-to-weight ratio is greater than the local gravity strength

(expressed in gs), then flight can occur without any forward motion or any
aerodynamic lift being required.

If the thrust-to-weight ratio times the lift-to-drag ratio is greater than local
gravity then takeoff using aerodynamic lift is possible.

Flight dynamics

Main article: Flight dynamics

Flight dynamics is the science of air and space vehicle orientation and
control in three dimensions. The three critical flight dynamics parameters are
the angles of rotation in three dimensions about the vehicle's center of mass,
known as pitch, roll and yaw (See Tait-Bryan rotations for an explanation).

The control of these dimensions can involve a horizontal stabilizer (i.e. "a
tail"), ailerons and other movable aerodynamic devices which control angular
stability i.e. flight attitude (which in turn affects altitude, heading). Wings are
often angled slightly upwards- they have "positive dihedral angle" which gives
inherent roll stabilization.

Energy efficiency

Main article: propulsive efficiency

To create thrust so as to be able to gain height, and to push through the air to
overcome the drag associated with lift all takes energy. Different objects and
creatures capable of flight vary in the efficiency of their muscles, motors and
how well this translates into forward thrust.

Propulsive efficiency determines how much energy vehicles generate from a

unit of fuel.[31][32]

Range

Main article: range (aircraft)

The range that powered flight articles can achieve is ultimately limited by
their drag, as well as how much energy they can store on board and how
efficiently they can turn that energy into propulsion.[33]

For powered aircraft the useful energy is determined by their fuel fraction-
what percentage of the takeoff weight is fuel, as well as the specific energy of
the fuel used.

Power-to-weight ratio

Main article: power-to-weight ratio

All animals and devices capable of sustained flight need relatively high
power-to-weight ratios to be able to generate enough lift and/or thrust to
achieve take off.

Takeoff and landing

Main article: takeoff and landing

Vehicles that can fly can have different ways to takeoff and land.
Conventional aircraft accelerate along the ground until sufficient lift is
generated for takeoff, and reverse the process for landing. Some aircraft can
take off at low speed; this is called a short takeoff. Some aircraft such as
helicopters and Harrier jump jets can take off and land vertically. Rockets
also usually take off and land vertically, but some designs can land
horizontally.

Guidance, navigation and control

Main article: Guidance, navigation and control

Navigation

Navigation is the systems necessary to calculate current position (e.g.

compass, GPS, LORAN, star tracker, inertial measurement unit, and
altimeter).

In aircraft, successful air navigation involves piloting an aircraft from place to

place without getting lost, breaking the laws applying to aircraft, or
endangering the safety of those on board or on the ground.

The techniques used for navigation in the air will depend on whether the
aircraft is flying under the visual flight rules (VFR) or the instrument flight
rules (IFR). In the latter case, the pilot will navigate exclusively using
instruments and radio navigation aids such as beacons, or as directed under
radar control by air traffic control. In the VFR case, a pilot will largely
navigate using dead reckoning combined with visual observations (known as
pilotage), with reference to appropriate maps. This may be supplemented
using radio navigation aids.

Guidance

Main article: Guidance system

A guidance system is a device or group of devices used in the navigation of

a ship, aircraft, missile, rocket, satellite, or other moving object. Typically,
guidance is responsible for the calculation of the vector (i.e., direction,
velocity) toward an objective.

Control

Main article: Flight control system

A conventional fixed-wing aircraft flight control system consists of flight
control surfaces, the respective cockpit controls, connecting linkages, and the
necessary operating mechanisms to control an aircraft's direction in flight.
Aircraft engine controls are also considered as flight controls as they change
speed.

Traffic

In the case of aircraft, air traffic is controlled by air traffic control systems.

Collision avoidance is the process of controlling spacecraft to try to prevent

collisions.

Flight safety
Main article: aviation safety

Air safety is a term encompassing the theory, investigation and

categorization of flight failures, and the prevention of such failures through
regulation, education and training. It can also be applied in the context of
campaigns that inform the public as to the safety of air travel.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Flight.

Aerodynamics
Levitation
Transvection (flying)

References
Notes
 1. ^ Walker 2000, p. 541. Quote: the gas-bag of a balloon or airship.
2. ^ Coulson-Thomas 1976, p. 281. Quote: fabric enclosing gas-bags of
airship.
3. ^ Averof, Michalis. "Evolutionary origin of insect wings from ancestral
gills." Nature, Volume 385, Issue 385, February 1997, pp. 627–630.
4. ^ World Book Student. Chicago: World Book. Retrieved: April 29, 2011.
5. ^ "BBC article and video of flying fish." BBC, May 20, 2008. Retrieved:
May 20, 2008.
6. ^ "Swan Identification." Archived 2006-10-31 at the Wayback Machine.
The Trumpeter Swan Society. Retrieved: January 3, 2012.
7. ^ Wang, Z. Jane (2005). "DISSECTING INSECT FLIGHT" (pdf).
Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics. 37 (1): 183–210.
Bibcode:2005AnRFM..37..183W.
doi:10.1146/annurev.fluid.36.050802.121940.
8. ^ Sane, Sanjay P. (2003). "The aerodynamics of insect flight" (PDF).
The Journal of Experimental Biology. 206 (23): 4191–4208.
doi:10.1242/jeb.00663. PMID 14581590.
9. ^ Bern, Peter. "Concorde: You asked a pilot." BBC, October 23, 2003.
10. ^ Spitzmiller, Ted (2007). Astronautics: A Historical Perspective of
Mankind's Efforts to Conquer the Cosmos. Apogee Books. p. 467.
ISBN 9781894959667.
11. ^ "Archytas of Tar entum." Archived December 26, 2008, at the
Wayback Machine. Technology Museum of Thessaloniki, Macedonia,
Greece/ Retrieved: May 6, 2012.
12. ^ "Ancient history." Automata. Retrieved:May 6, 2012.
13. ^ "Sir George Cayley". Flyingmachines.org. Retrieved 26 July 2009.
"Sir George Cayley is one of the most important people in the history of
aeronautics. Many consider him the first true scientific aerial
investigator and the first person to understand the underlying
principles and forces of flight."
14. ^ "The Pioneers: Aviation and Airmodelling". Retrieved 26 July 2009.
"Sir George Cayley, is sometimes called the 'Father of Aviation'. A
 pioneer in his field, he is credited with the first major breakthrough in
heavier-than-air flight. He was the first to identify the four
aerodynamic forces of flight – weight, lift, drag, and thrust – and their
relationship and also the first to build a successful human carrying
glider."
15. ^ "U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission – Sir George Cayley".
Archived from the original on 20 September 2008. Retrieved 10
September 2008. "Sir George Cayley, born in 1773, is sometimes called
the Father of Aviation. A pioneer in his field, Cayley literally has two
great spurts of aeronautical creativity, separated by years during
which he did little with the subject. He was the first to identify the four
aerodynamic forces of flight – weight, lift, drag, and thrust and their
relationship. He was also the first to build a successful human-carrying
glider. Cayley described many of the concepts and elements of the
modern aeroplane and was the first to understand and explain in
engineering terms the concepts of lift and thrust."
16. ^ "Orville Wright's Personal Letters on Aviation." Shapell Manuscript
Foundation, (Chicago), 2012.
17. ^ https://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/sputorig.html
18. ^ "Gagarin anniversary." NASA. Retrieved: May 6, 2012.
19. ^ "Four forces on an aeroplane." NASA. Retrieved: January 3, 2012.
20. ^ http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/k-12/airplane/newton3.html
21. ^ "Definition of lift." Archived 2009-02-03 at the Wayback Machine.
NASA. Retrieved: May 6, 2012.
22. ^ French 1970, p. 210.
23. ^ "Basic flight physics." Berkeley University. Retrieved: May 6, 2012.
24. ^ "What is Drag?" NASA. Retrieved: May 6, 2012.
25. ^ "Motions of particles through fluids." Archived 2012-04-25 at the
Wayback Machine. lorien.ncl.ac. Retrieved: May 6, 2012.
26. ^ The Beginner's Guide to Aeronautics - NASA Glenn Research Center
https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/ldrat.html
27. ^ The Beginner's Guide to Aeronautics - NASA Glenn Research Center
 https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/liftco.html
28. ^ The Beginner's Guide to Aeronautics - NASA Glenn Research Center
https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/dragco.html
29. ^ The Beginner's Guide to Aeronautics - NASA Glenn Research Center
https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/ldrat.html
30. ^ Sutton and Biblarz 2000, p. 442. Quote: "thrust-to-weight ratio F/W0
is a dimensionless parameter that is identical to the acceleration of the
rocket propulsion system (expressed in multiples of g0) if it could fly by
itself in a gravity free vacuum."
31. ^ ch10-3 "History." NASA. Retrieved: May 6, 2012.
32. ^ Honicke et al. 1968[page needed]
33. ^
http://web.mit.edu/16.unified/www/FALL/thermodynamics/notes/nod
e98.html

Bibliography

Coulson-Thomas, Colin. The Oxford Illustrated Dictionary. Oxford, UK:

Oxford University Press, 1976, First edition 1975, ISBN 978-0-19-
861118-9.
French, A. P. Newtonian Mechanics (The M.I.T. Introductory Physics
Series) (1st ed.). New York: W. W. Norton & Company Inc., 1970.
Honicke, K., R. Lindner, P. Anders, M. Krahl, H. Hadrich and K.
Rohricht. Beschreibung der Konstruktion der Triebwerksanlagen.
Berlin: Interflug, 1968.
Sutton, George P. Oscar Biblarz. Rocket Propulsion Elements. New York:
Wiley-Interscience, 2000 (7th edition). ISBN 978-0-471-32642-7.
Walker, Peter. Chambers Dictionary of Science and Technology.
Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd., 2000, First edition 1998.
ISBN 978-0-550-14110-1.

External links
 Look up flight in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Flights.

Flight travel guide from Wikivoyage

'Birds in Flight and Aeroplanes' by Evolutionary Biologist and trained

Engineer John Maynard-Smith Freeview video provided by the Vega
Science Trust.