To fly or not to fly?
“We-playing we Phagwah we playing all over – Holi Karay Raghubeea- HAPPY HOLI GUYANA!Over the past few days aeroplanes have made “hot” news in Guyana and all across the world, the two most recent cases; where one of the air traffic controllers technically abandoned an incoming flight at Timehri by leaving the CJIA tower site, claiming his eight hour shift was over. The other is the mysterious disappearance of a Malaysian aircraft carrying over 300 passengers and crew members, which some suggest might have flown west toward the Indian Ocean after it vanished from civilian air-traffic control systems. The search continues as many world-power countries like Indian and China taking the lead in finding what is so far considered the most tragic event for the year. Having heard about these incidents, I thought we know a little about aircrafts and how technology enriched there operations.
Humans try to fly like birds
For many centuries, humans have tried to fly just like the birds. Wings made of feathers or light weight would have been attached to arms to test their ability to fly. The results were often disastrous as the muscles of the human arms are not like the wings of birds and cannot move with the strength of a bird.

An aeroplane by definition is an aircraft that has a fixed wing and is powered by propellers or jets. Aeroplanes have made it possible for us to be in another country in a couple of hours and to cross oceans faster than ever before. Aeroplanes are amazing aerodynamic machines. They have changed the way people do business and have allowed many to get to know other countries. There are over 80,000take offs per day.

Many different models have been created but how does an airplane work? What makes them stay in the air? What are lift and drag? How do jet engines work?

The first Aeroplane
The inventors of the first airplane were Orville and Wilbur Wright. On December 17, 1903, the Wright brothers made the first successful experiment in which a machine (aka airplane) carrying a man rose by its own power, flew naturally and at even speed, and descended without damage.

Air is a physical substance which has weight. Moving air has a force that will lift kites and balloons up and down. Everything that flies needs air. Air has power to push and pull on the birds, balloons, kites and planes.

Materials used
Aircrafts are made out of many different materials. The most common is aluminium; however, modern aircraft is built using composite materials. If you consider the entire aircraft, the materials will include plastic and glass for interior and steel and titanium for engines. Steel and Titanium alloys are used in wing structures and landing gears for large airliners.

How Wings Lift the Plane
Aeroplane wings are curved on the top which make air move faster over the top of the wing. The air moves faster over the top of a wing. It moves slower underneath the wing. The slow air pushes up from below while the faster air pushes down from the top. This forces the wing to lift up into the air. To roll the plane to the right or left, the ailerons are raised on one wing and lowered on the other. The wing with the lowered aileron rises while the wing with the raised aileron drops.

Fuel Used
Hi-speed Kerosene is one of the fuels used. Aviation fuel is a specialised type of petroleum-based fuel used to power aircraft. It is generally of a higher quality than fuels used in less critical applications, such as heating or road transport, and often contains additives to reduce the risk of icing or explosion due to high temperatures, among other properties.

How Does a Plane Stay in the Air?
A plane’s engine is designed to move it forward at high speed. This makes air flow rapidly over the wings. The wings in turn throw the air toward the ground, generating an upward force called lift. The lift eventually overcomes the plane’s weight and holds it in the sky.

Speed
How fast an aeroplane flies depends on the type of being flown. A standard 747 can travel at speeds of up to 600 miles per hour. Most of the commercial airlines only travel at speeds of about 500 miles per hour. Guinness Book claims that the fastest aeroplane ever flown went up to 2,193 miles per hour.

Controlling the Flight of a Plane
How does a plane fly? Let’s pretend that our arms are wings. If we place one wing down and one wing up we can use the roll to change the direction of the plane. We are helping to turn the plane by yawing toward one side. If we raise our nose, like how a pilot can raise the nose of the plane, we are raising the pitch of the plane. All these dimensions together combine to control the flight of the plane. A pilot has special controls that can be used to fly the plane. There are levers and buttons that the pilot can push to change the yaw, pitch and roll of the plane.

Pitch-is to make a plane descend or climb. The pilot adjusts the elevators on the tail to make a plane descend or climb. Lowering the elevators causes the aeroplane’s nose to drop, sending the plane into a down. Raising the elevators causes the airplane to climb.
Yaw-is the turning of a plane. When the rudder is turned to one side, the airplane moves left or right. The aeroplane’s nose is pointed in the same direction as the direction of the rudder. The rudder and the ailerons are used together to make a turn.
Landing Gear
For aircrafts, the landing gear supports the aircraft when it is not flying, allowing it to take off, land and usually to taxi without damage. Faster aircraft usually have retractable undercarriage, which folds away during flight to reduce air resistance or drag.

The pilot’s place
A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft, from which a pilot controls the aircraft. Most modern cockpits are enclosed, except on some small aircraft. It contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the controls that enable the pilot to fly the aircraft. In most airliners, a door separates the cockpit from the passenger compartment.

Longest non-stop flight
Amazing advances in technology now let nonstop flights fly farther and cheaper for airlines than ever before. Many follow routes that take them near the North Pole as they whip over the top of the globe to the other side of the world. The longest non-stop flight ever was carried on by Singapore Airlines Flights 21 and 22 between Singapore and Newark, New Jersey. The route is the longest both in distance, about 9,500 miles and in time about 19 hours.
How safe is flying?
Most safety features in airplanes are built into the design. Almost everything in a plane is fireproof or fire blocked. The seats and seat belts are rated to much higher G loads than you’d find in cars. There is a lot more emergency equipment: fire extinguishers, supplemental oxygen, emergency lighting systems, advanced emergency medical kits, life rafts, life jackets, etc.

The best safety features are the systems, training, and maintenance that prevent problems in the first place. Airplanes are meticulously maintained. Cars would last a million miles or more if they went through the same inspections as airplanes. Crews go through intense normal and emergency training twice a year. There are systems onboard that alert pilots of other traffic, and automatically direct planes away from each other if they get too close. Yet, with all those measures there are plenty of catastrophic moments in flying. The choice is yours, to fly or not to fly!