Types of aircraft
⏱ 10 min
Aircraft are either lighter than air (balloons and airships, which float) or heavier than air (which need lift from moving air).
- Fixed-wing aeroplanes — light aircraft, airliners, military jets.
- Rotorcraft — helicopters (powered rotor) and autogyros (free-spinning rotor).
- Gliders — no engine; they use rising air (thermals, ridge lift) to stay up.
- Unmanned aircraft (drones, UAS).
Wing positions
High wing (e.g. Cessna 172), low wing (e.g. Piper PA-28, most airliners), mid wing (many fighters). A wing angled upwards from root to tip has dihedral, which helps stability in roll; downwards is anhedral.
Tail types
Conventional, T-tail (tailplane on top of the fin), cruciform, V-tail and twin fins.