Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Aeroplane |
AeroplaneNoun1. An aircraft that has a fixed wing and is powered by propellers or jets; "the flight was delayed due to trouble with the airplane". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "aeroplane" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1900. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Transportation | Mechanically propelled aerodyne sustained by wings which, in any one flight regime, remain fixed. Source: European Union. (references) |
| A power-driven heavier-than-air aircraft, deriving its lift in flight chiefly from aerodynamic reactions on surfaces which remain fixed under given conditions of flight. Source: European Union. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
A separate article is about the movie Airplane.
An aircraft is any machine capable of atmospheric flight.
An Airbus A340 of SriLankan Airlines. This is a wide-bodied long-haul aircraft, with 24 Business Class seats and 288 Economy Class seats.
Larger version
A hot air balloon seen from nearly directly below. The burner flame is firing into the envelope.
Larger version
Bell 206B Jet Ranger III helicopter
Larger version
Two categories
Aircraft fall into two broad categories:See also: List of aviation, aerospace and aeronautical terms
- Heavier than air aerodynes, including autogyros, helicopters and variants, and conventional fixed-wing aircraft: aeroplanes in Commonwealth English, airplanes in North American English.
Fixed-wing aircraft generally use an internal-combustion engine and propeller or jet engine to provide thrust, which moves the craft forward through the air. The movement of air over the wings produces lift, which allows the aircraft to fly. Exceptions are gliders which have no engines and gain their thrust from gravity. That is, in order to maintain their forward speed they must descend in relation to the air (but not necessarily in relation to the ground). Helicopters and autogyros use a spinning rotor (a rotary wing) to provide both lift and thrust. The abbreviation VTOL is applied to aircraft other than helicopters that can take off or land vertically. Similarly, STOL stands for Short Take Off and Landing.
- Lighter than air aerostats: balloons and airships. Aerostats float in air in the same way that a ship floats in water, by displacing the air around the craft with a lighter gas (helium or hydrogen), or hot air. The distinction between a balloon and an airship is that an airship has some means of controlling forward motion and steering while balloons simply drift with the wind.
There are several ways to classify aircraft. Below, we describe classifications by design, propulsion and usage.
Also see this list of articles on particular aircraft types, and this list of aircraft.
Types of aircraft
By design
A first division by design among aircraft is between lighter-than-air and heavier-than-air aircraft.Examples of lighter-than-air aircraft include non-steerable balloons, such as hot air balloons and gas balloons, and airships (sometimes called dirigible balloons), such as blimps (which have a non-rigid construction) and rigid airships, which have a rigid frame. The best-known type of rigid airship is the Zeppelin.
In heavier-than-air aircraft, we can discern two major ways to produce the lift: aerodynamic lift and engine lift. In the case of aerodynamic lift, the aircraft is kept in the air because of aerodynamics, usually by means of wings of some kind. With engine lift, the aircraft defeats gravity by sheer engine power.
Examples of engine lift aircraft are rockets, and so-called VTOL planes, such as the Hawker Harrier.
Among aerodynamically lifted aircraft, the largest number falls in the category of fixed-wing aircraft, where horizontal surfaces produce lift, by profiting from the Coanda effect (aeroplane or airplane).
In a "conventional" configuration, the lift surfaces are placed in front of a control surface or tailplane. The number of lift surfaces varied greatly in the pre-1950 period, as biplanes (two wings) and triplanes (three wings) were numerous in the early days of aviation. Subsequently most planes are monoplanes.
The reverse configuration is the canard type, where small horizontal control surfaces are placed forward of the wings, near the nose of the aircraft.
Other possibilities include the delta-wing, where lift and horizontal control surfaces are combined, and the flying wing, where there is no separate vertical control surface (e.g. the B-2). A variable geometry ('swing-wing') has also been employed in a few examples of combat aircraft (the F-111, Panavia Tornado, and B-1 Lancer, among others).
The lifting body configuration where the body itself produce lift has been tested. So far the only significant practical application of the lifting body was in the Space Shuttle.
A second large category of aerodynamically lifted aircraft are the rotary-wing aircraft. Here, the lift is provided by rotating rotors. The best-known examples of this category are the helicopter, the earlier autogyro, and the tiltrotor aircraft (such as the V-22 Osprey).
A further category might encompass the wing-in-ground-effect types, for example the Russian ekranoplan, also nicknamed the "Caspian Sea Monster" and hovercraft, most of the latter employing a skirt and achieving limited ground or water clearance to reduce friction and achieve speeds above those achieved by boats of similar weight.
And finally, the flapping-wing ornithopter is a category of its own. These designs may have considerable potential but are not yet practical.
By propulsion
Some types of aircraft, such as the balloon or glider, do not have any propulsion. Balloons drift with the wind. For gliders, takeoff takes place from a high location, or the aircraft is pulled into the air by a ground-based winch or vehicle, or towed aloft by a powered "tug" aircraft.
Most early aircraft used a piston-engine with propeller as propulsion. Although the configuration of the engine can vary (rotary, radial, inline), they all work according to the same principles.
Just prior to World War II, the first jet engines emerged. Different types exist, such as the ramjet, pulse jet, turbojet, and the turboprop, the latter of which still uses a propeller.
By usage
Three major uses for aircraft may be seen: recreational, military, and commercial.
For recreation, almost any type of aircraft can be used, although they are usually small ones. Gliders and balloons are used almost exclusively for recreational purposes although they have been used in times of war in the past. For instance, balloons were used for observation in the American Civil War and World War I. Gliders were used to deliver troops into occupied territory during World War II.
The first widespread use of military aircraft was for reconnaissance and surveillance in World War I. Soon they were adapted for attacking the ground or enemy vehicles/ships/guns/aircraft as well, and the first bombers were born. In order to prevent the enemy from bombing, fighter aircraft were developed to intercept and shoot down enemy aircraft.
Eventually, two-seat trainers were developed for the purpose of instructing new pilots. The use of transport aircraft enabled the rapid movement of supplies, ammunition, cargo, troops and also casualty evacuation; transport aircraft were also used to drop paratroopers. Tankers are used to refuel planes in mid-air, thus increasing their operational range.
Commercial aviation can be divided in passenger transport and cargo transport. For the former, large planes have been developed that can transport up to 500 passengers over large distances. Commercial cargo aircraft are often similar to military transport aircraft, or might be adapted from the passenger fleets of an earlier era.
Other uses include search-and-rescue operations (especially by helicopters), border protection and water-bombing (fire-fighting). Further divisions can be drawn between aircraft designs having a conventional (wheeled) undercarriage, and amphibious floatplanes or flying boats.
Related topics
- Aerial refueling
- Aeronautics
- Aircraft carrier
- Aircraft manufacturers
- Aircraft spotting
- Airline call signs
- Airliner
- Aviation
- Bomber
- Contrail
- Fighter aircraft
- Jet engine
- Karl Jatho
- Lifting body
- Military aircraft
- Model aircraft
- Sir George Cayley
- Spacecraft propulsion
- Spacecraft
- Successful aircraft types
- Undercarriage
- Wright brothers
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Aircraft."
Synonyms: AeroplaneSynonyms: airplane (n), plane (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Ship | Balloon; airship, aeroplane; biplane, monoplane, triplane; hydroplane; aerodrome; air balloon, pilot balloon, fire balloon, dirigible, zeppelin; aerostat, Montgolfier; kite, parachute. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Aeroplane |
| English words defined with "aeroplane": fly. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "aeroplane": accelerated stall, airborne target, airplane rule, arresting device, arresting gear ♦ butterfly tail ♦ Coordinated Universal Time ♦ falling leaf ♦ Gosport tube ♦ manoeuvring load factor, multiplane ♦ remotely piloted vehicle ♦ safety-critical system, subsonic aeroplane ♦ take-off run available, train operating company, true airspeed ♦ WRIGHT. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | He had come to the conclusion that Norman slept in an aeroplane hangar at Luton Airport (Monty Python's Flying Circus; writing credit: Douglas Adams; Graham Chapman) | |
Lyrics | You could have an aeroplane flying (Sledgehammer; performing artist: Peter Gabriel) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Roving Thomas on an Aeroplane (1922) The Aeroplane Machine Gun (1917) MacDougal's Aeroplane (1915) Panama and the Canal from an Aeroplane (1914) An Aeroplane Love Affair (1912) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Music |
|
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | C&GS Ship HYDROGRAPHER as seen from photogrammetric aircraft First photo mission for C&GS was an attempt to determined depths in clear water Project in Florida Keys - ship was used as fixed reference program Cooperative project with Aeroplane Service of the Navy. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection. |  | The fixed-wing aeroplane can make accurate insecticide drops at 60 mph over open stretches of river. / WHO photo. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |
 | Mother, mother! an aeroplane has just fell in the back yard! : No Edward, an aeroplane has fallen, Edward. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Italian front: Miss Sarah Shaw and A.R.C. officer watching aeroplane. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Daily the British Navy and Fleet Air Arm in the Mediterranean are rendering fruitless the desparate [sic] Italian attempts to send reinforcements to Libya. This picture shows a torpedo being loaded up on an aeroplane of the Fleet Aur [sic] Arm. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | On the western front. Anti-aircraft gunners preparing to fire at a German aeroplane. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Santos-Dumont sur le siège de son aeroplane. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | The Detroit news timely topics. Launching aeroplane in catapult test. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Glen Echo amusement park. Aeroplane through columns of restaurant, Glen Echo. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Aeroplane view of Tacoma. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |  |
| "Aeroplane sleep" by Patrick Jongenelen Commentary: "Sleep." | "Aeroplane" by Red Bull Commentary: "Ryanair plane on the runway." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
Treaty of Versailles | 1919 | In particular it will be its duty to make an inventory of the aeronautical material existing in German territory, to inspect aeroplane, balloon and motor manufactories, and factories producing arms, munitions and explosives capable of being used by aircraft, to visit all aerodromes, sheds, landing grounds, parks and depots, to authorise, where necessary, a removal of material and to take delivery of such material. (reference) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Aeroplane" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 98.48% of the time. "Aeroplane" is used about 524 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 98.48% | 516 | 11,767 |
| Noun (proper) | 1.52% | 8 | 124,375 |
| Total | 100.00% | 524 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "aeroplane": aeroplane carrier ♦ aeroplane flight manual ♦ aeroplane hangar ♦ aeroplane modelling ♦ aeroplane performance operating limitations ♦ aeroplane rule ♦ aeroplane shed ♦ bail out of an aeroplane ♦ by aeroplane ♦ conventional aeroplane ♦ crash of aeroplane ♦ folding wing aeroplane ♦ force an aeroplane ♦ freight aeroplane ♦ jet aeroplane ♦ model aeroplane ♦ passive aeroplane ♦ school aeroplane ♦ subsonic aeroplane ♦ training aeroplane. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "aeroplane": aeroplane-like, aeroplane-makers, aeroplane-related, aeroplane-shaped. | |
Ending with "aeroplane": Hydro-aeroplane. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "aeroplane"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Afrikaans | vliegtuig (aircraft, airplane, air-plane, plane). (various references) | |
Albanian | aeroplan (aircraft, airplane, plane). (various references) | |
Arabic | طائرة (airplane, craft, glider, interceptor, plane). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | самолет (aircraft, airplane, bus, craft, plane, ship), аероплан. (various references) | |
Chinese | 飞机 (airplane, Plane). (various references) | |
Czech | letadlo (aircraft, airplane, clipper, hydro-aeroplane, liner, plane, vessel). (various references) | |
Danish | flyvemaskine (aircraft, airplane, air-plane, plane). (various references) | |
Dutch | vliegtuig (aircraft, airplane, air-plane, plane), vliegmachine (aircraft, airplane, air-plane, plane). (various references) | |
Esperanto | aviadilo, aeroplano (airplane, plane). (various references) | |
Farsi | هواپیما (Aircraft, Airplane, Plane, Ship), طیاره (Aircraft). (various references) | |
Finnish | lentokone (aircraft, airplane, plane). (various references) | |
French | avion. (various references) | |
Frisian | fleantúch (aircraft, airplane, plane), fleanmasine (aircraft, airplane, plane). (various references) | |
German | Flugzeug (aircraft, airplane, plane). (various references) | |
Greek | αεροπλάνο (airplane, plane). (various references) | |
Hawaiian | aeroplan (aircraft, airplane, plane). (various references) | |
Hebrew | מטוס (air plane, aircraft, airplane, plane). (various references) | |
Hungarian | repülőgép (aircraft, airplane, can, flying machine, plane). (various references) | |
Icelandic | flugvél (aircraft, airplane, plane). (various references) | |
Indonesian | pesawat terbang (aircraft, airliner, plane). (various references) | |
Irish | eitleÚn (airplane, plane). (various references) | |
Italian | aeroplano (aircraft, airplane, air-plane, plane), aereo (aerial, air, aircraft, airplane, freighter, kite, overhead, plane), velivolo (aircraft, airplane, plane). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 飛行機 , 飛行機 . (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | ひこうき. (various references) | |
Lombard | areo (airplane, plane). (various references) | |
Malay | pesawat terbang (airplane, plane). (various references) | |
Manx | greie etlee (airplane), etlan (aircraft, plane). (various references) | |
Norwegian | fly (aircraft, airplane, plane). (various references) | |
Papiamen | avion (aircraft, airplane, plane), airoplano (airplane, plane). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | aeroplaneay.(various references) | |
Polish | samolot (aircraft, airplane, plane). (various references) | |
Portuguese | avião (aircraft, airplane, air-plane, plane, ship), aeroplano (plane). (various references) | |
Romanian | avion (air plane, aircraft, airplane, crate, flyer, plane). (various references) | |
Russian | самолет (acft aircraft, air liner, aircraft, airplane, crate, flying machine, plane, skywriter, vessel). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | avion (aircraft, airplane, plane). (various references) | |
Spanish | avión (aircraft, airplane, air-plane, machine, Martin, plane, ship), aeroplano (airplane, air-plane, plane). (various references) | |
Sranan | opolangi (aircraft, airplane, plane). (various references) | |
Swedish | flygplan (aircraft, airplane, craft, flyer, plane). (various references) | |
Tagalog | eroplano (aircraft, airplane, plane). (various references) | |
Turkish | uçak (aero, aircraft, airplane, airship, craft, kite, plane). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | аероплан (airplane), літак (aircraft, airplane). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | tàu bay (airplane), máy bay. (various references) | |
Welsh | awyren (aircraft, airplane, balloon, plane), eroplên (aircraft, airplane, plane). (various references) | |
Zulu | indiza (aircraft, airplane, plane). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "aeroplane": aeroplanes. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-a-e-e-l-n-o-p-r" | |
-1 letter: peroneal. | |
-2 letters: apnoeal, areolae, parolee, preanal, repanel. | |
-3 letters: apneal, apnoea, areola, areole, earlap, eloper, leaner, leaper, loaner, opener, paleae, parole, pereon, planar, planer, prolan, reloan, reopen, repeal, replan. | |
-4 letters: alane, alone, anear, anele, anole, apnea, apron, areae, areal, arena, arpen, elope, enrol, laree, learn, leone, leper, loner, loper, loran, nerol, nopal, opera, paean, paeon. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-a-e-e-l-n-o-p-r" | |
+1 letter: aeroplanes. | |
+3 letters: nonrepayable. | |
+4 letters: convertaplane, encephalogram, premenopausal, prosencephala. | |
+5 letters: comparableness, convertaplanes, encephalograms, encephalograph, pardonableness, pastoralnesses, predevaluation, preoperational, presentational, proletarianise, proletarianize, rhombencephala. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Images: Digital Art | 9. Quotations: Historic 10. Usage Frequency 11. Expressions 12. Expressions: Internet | 13. Translations: Modern 14. Derivations 15. Anagrams 16. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
