AIRCRAFT vs AIRPLANE

There was an advertisement for a watch where the model was wearing some alien technology on her wrist while she said “It will be accurate even if you go on a cruise or on an airplane. Any country you go to, it would give you correct information.. and blah blah.” In between, she said airplane while she was in a helicopter. It might not be a big topic to talk about but if you don’t have any idea about various flying machines or the difference between aircraft and airplanes, then this blog is for you.

Why the term Airplane became Common

The term airplane is almost commonplace as aircraft because several airplanes are much more in number, more than any other vehicle, It is a human tendency to relate more to what we understand. Not a single but there are so many differences between aircraft and airplanes, it’s like naming every automotive vehicle as a car. Aircraft carries a huge classification of individual Flying Machines.

Definition

Aircraft can be defined as The Machine that uses for flying by any means. It also includes the one who never flown but was made for The Sky. Aircraft can be as simple a machine as a kite, balloon, or paper plane to as complicated as a Helicopter or Jumbo jet. 

An airplane is a thing that flies with help of a Fixed Wing, there is no limit on the number of wings or the length of the wing. 

Categorization

Aircraft is currently divided into two categories: 

Lighter than Air: Mechanism fly with help of Air, or Gas 

Heavier than Air: Flying Machines other than Lighter than Air Aircraft.

Lighter than Air

In the 1700s when the world entered a Modern era, in between discovery and inventions at the end of the 17s.

In 1783 June 4rth in Annonay, France., the Montgolfier Brothers with help of Archimedes ( the one who gave the Principle of buoyancy, the Eureka Guy) inventor of the first flying balloon. The same year Joseph & Jacques Montgolfier flew a sheep, a rooster, and a Duck in 1783 September for 8 minutes. Soon in October first manned flight was made. 

They changed history in 1783, which was the time when a new mode of Transportation was invented, and several changes were made. Not going deeper, it was the time when LTA (lighter Than Air) got categories and subcategories.

There are two types of LTA 

1. Balloon

There are two types of balloon

I. Tethered balloon

II. Free balloon

2. Airships

There are three types of airships

I. Blimp

II. Semi-Rigid Airship

III. Rigid airship (Zeppelin)

Apart from the above categories, LTA is also sub-categorized by other means such as a method of thrust and gas inside the balloon, etc.

Balloons and airships are nowadays not that useful except for various purposes such as Weather reporting, advertisement and hobby purposes. 

“India- The land of Vedas, the remarkable works contain not only religious ideas for a perfect life but also facts which science has proved true. Electricity, Radium, Electronics, and Airship, all were known to the seers who founded the Vedas. ”

 -Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Heavier than Air

If failure counts for heavier than air were the ancient contribution goes to every continent, especially Chinese philosopher Lu Ban who invented Kite, and other preceding philosophers who thought to fly humans with the same method as the Kite flew. There huge list of philosophers who gave various methods by which humans can fly but Leonardo Da Vinci was living in a period when the engine was in an early stage.

Instead of repeating about achievements of the Wright Brothers, that they flew in 1903, Wright Flyer I, & in a few years their contribution to Aircraft Development was huge.

Heavier than Air Aircraft includes all the machines that are not LTA Aircraft. So the list is huge. There are a lot of types of categorization the HTA aircraft, the basic method to categorize by:

• Selection of Power Plant (Engine I.e.: Piston Engine, Gas Turbine Engine, Electric Motor or rocket propulsion), 
• The method of thrust production (by Propelling propeller or jet method)
• Manned and unmanned (human-controlled from Cockpit or Remote Controlled)
• Wing Configuration (Single wing, Bi-Wing, Flapping or Rotary Wing)
• Experimental Categorization (all other means to specify Aircraft).

The most famous Concept was Airplane and Helicopter. Since we are living in an era of evolution nowadays new concepts are getting attention such as drones or Quadcopter, and Solar powered aircraft.

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