Technical English 2

Semana 2
Methods of lift
Lighter than air – aerostats

Aerostats use buoyancy to float in the air in much the

same way that ships float on the water. They are
characterized by one or more large cells or canopies, filled
with a relatively low-density gas such as helium, hydrogen
, or hot air, which is less dense than the surrounding air.
When the weight of this is added to the weight of the
aircraft structure, it adds up to the same weight as the air
that the craft displaces.

Small hot-air balloons, called sky lanterns, were first

invented in ancient China prior to the 3rd century BC and
used primarily in cultural celebrations, and were only the
second type of aircraft to fly, the first being kites, which
were first invented in ancient China over two thousand
years ago.
A balloon was originally any aerostat,
while the term airship was used for
large, powered aircraft designs —
usually fixed-wing In 1919 Frederick
Handley Page was reported as
referring to "ships of the air," with
smaller passenger types as "Air
yachts." In the 1930s, large
intercontinental flying boats were also
sometimes referred to as "ships of the
air" or "flying-ships".— though none
had yet been built.
The advent of powered balloons, called dirigible balloons, and later of rigid hulls allowing a great
increase in size, began to change the way these words were used. Huge powered aerostats,
characterized by a rigid outer framework and separate aerodynamic skin surrounding the gas bags,
were produced, the Zeppelins being the largest and most famous. 
There were still no fixed-wing aircraft or
non-rigid balloons large enough to be
called airships, so "airship" came to be
synonymous with these aircraft. Then
several accidents, such as
the Hindenburg disaster in 1937, led to
the demise of these airships. Nowadays
a "balloon" is an unpowered aerostat
and an "airship" is a powered one.
A powered, steerable aerostat is called a dirigible. Sometimes this term is applied only to non-rigid
balloons, and sometimes dirigible balloon is regarded as the definition of an airship (which may then
be rigid or non-rigid). Non-rigid dirigibles are characterized by a moderately aerodynamic gasbag with
stabilizing fins at the back. These soon became known as blimps.
During World War II, this shape was
widely adopted for tethered balloons; in
windy weather, this both reduces the
strain on the tether and stabilizes the
balloon. The nickname blimp was
adopted along with the shape. In
modern times, any small dirigible or
airship is called a blimp, though a blimp
may be unpowered as well as
powered.
Heavier-than-air – aerodynes

Heavier-than-air aircraft, such

as airplanes, must find some way to
push air or gas downwards, so that a
reaction occurs (by Newton's laws of
motion) to push the aircraft upwards.
This dynamic movement through the air
is the origin of the term aerodyne. There
are two ways to produce dynamic
upthrust — aerodynamic lift,
and powered lift in the form of engine
thrust.
Aerodynamic lift involving wings is the most
common, with fixed-wing aircraft being kept in
the air by the forward movement of wings,
and rotorcraft by spinning wing-shaped rotors
sometimes called rotary wings.

A wing is a flat, horizontal surface, usually

shaped in cross-section as an aerofoil.

To fly, air must flow over the wing and

generate lift. A flexible wing is a wing made of
fabric or thin sheet material, often stretched
over a rigid frame.

A kite is tethered to the ground and relies on

the speed of the wind over its wings, which
may be flexible or rigid, fixed, or rotary.
With powered lift, the aircraft directs its engine
thrust vertically downward. V/STOL aircraft,
such as the Harrier Jump Jet and Lockheed
Martin F-35B take off and land vertically using
powered lift and transfer to aerodynamic lift in
steady flight.

A pure rocket is not usually regarded as an

aerodyne, because it does not depend on the
air for its lift (and can even fly into space);
however, many aerodynamic lift vehicles have
been powered or assisted by rocket motors.

Rocket-powered missiles that obtain

aerodynamic lift at very high speed due to
airflow over their bodies are a marginal case
Fixed-wing
The forerunner of the fixed-wing aircraft
is the kite.

Whereas a fixed-wing aircraft relies on its

forward speed to create airflow over the
wings, a kite is tethered to the ground
and relies on the wind blowing over its
wings to provide lift. Kites were the first
kind of aircraft to fly, and were invented in
China around 500 BC.

Much aerodynamic research was done

with kites before test aircraft, wind
tunnels, and computer modelling
programs became available.
The first heavier-than-air craft capable of controlled free-flight were gliders. A glider designed by George
Cayley carried out the first true manned, controlled flight in 1853.
The practical, powered, fixed-wing aircraft (the airplane or aeroplane) was invented by Wilbur and
Orville Wright. Besides the method of propulsion, fixed-wing aircraft are in general characterized by
their wing configuration. The most important wing characteristics are:
•Number of wings — monoplane, biplane, etc.
•Wing support — Braced or cantilever, rigid, or flexible.
•Wing planform — including aspect ratio, angle of sweep, and any variations along the span (including
the important class of delta wings).
•Location of the horizontal stabilizer, if any.
•Dihedral angle — positive, zero, or negative (anhedral).
A variable geometry aircraft can change its wing
configuration during flight.

A flying wing has no fuselage, though it may have

small blisters or pods. The opposite of this is a 
lifting body, which has no wings, though it may have
small stabilizing and control surfaces.

Wing-in-ground-effect vehicles are not considered

aircraft. They "fly" efficiently close to the surface of
the ground or water, like conventional aircraft during
takeoff. An example is the Russian ekranoplan
(nicknamed the "Caspian Sea Monster"). 

Man-powered aircraft also rely on ground effect to

remain airborne with a minimal pilot power, but this is
only because they are so underpowered—in fact, the
airframe is capable of flying higher.
Rotorcraft

Rotorcraft, or rotary-wing aircraft, use a

spinning rotor with aerofoil section
blades (a rotary wing) to provide lift.
Types include helicopters, autogyros,
and various hybrids such
as gyrodynes and compound rotorcraft.
Helicopters have a rotor turned by an
engine-driven shaft. The rotor pushes
air downward to create lift. By tilting the
rotor forward, the downward flow is
tilted backward, producing thrust for
forward flight. Some helicopters have
more than one rotor and a few have
rotors turned by gas jets at the tips.
Autogyros have unpowered rotors, with a separate power plant to provide thrust. The rotor is tilted
backward. As the autogyro moves forward, air blows upward across the rotor, making it spin. This spinning
increases the speed of airflow over the rotor, to provide lift. Rotor kites are unpowered autogyros, which are
towed to give them forward speed or tethered to a static anchor in high-wind for kited flight.
Cyclogyros rotate their wings about a horizontal axis.
Compound rotorcraft have wings that provide some or all of the lift in forward flight. They are nowadays
classified as powered lift types and not as rotorcraft. Tiltrotor aircraft (such as the Bell Boeing V-22
Osprey), tiltwing, tail-sitter, and coleopter aircraft have their rotors/propellers horizontal for vertical flight and
vertical for forward flight.
Other methods of lift

•A lifting body is an aircraft body shaped to produce

lift. If there are any wings, they are too small to
provide significant lift and are used only for stability
and control. Lifting bodies are not efficient: they
suffer from high drag, and must also travel at high
speed to generate enough lift to fly.

•Many of the research prototypes, such as

the Martin Marietta X-24, which led up to the Space
Shuttle, were lifting bodies, though the Space
Shuttle is not, and some supersonic missiles obtain
lift from the airflow over a tubular body.
•Powered lift types rely on engine-derived lift for vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL). Most types transition to
fixed-wing lift for horizontal flight. Classes of powered lift types include VTOL jet aircraft (such as the Harrier
Jump Jet) and tiltrotors, such as the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey, among others. A few experimental designs rely
entirely on engine thrust to provide lift throughout the whole flight, including personal fan-lift hover platforms
and jetpacks. VTOL research designs include the Rolls-Royce Thrust Measuring Rig.

•The Flettner airplane uses a rotating cylinder in place of a fixed wing, obtaining lift from the Magnus effect.

•The ornithopter obtains thrust by flapping its wings.