Different airplane parts have different purposes. Let’s take a look at some of the most important parts and their functions.
1. Fuselage
Fuselage or the plane’s body holds the aircraft together. It’s the main component that ensures that the pilots, passengers, and cargo travel safely.
2. Cockpit
Cockpit is the area from where the pilots operate the plane. It contains various parts, such as the side consoles, overhead panel, rudder pedals, pilot seats, flight controls, and instrument panel.
• Side consoles – They help communicate documents with other flight staff.
• Overhead panel – It contains crucial aircraft systems, such as electricity, fuel, hydraulics, and air conditioning.
• Rudder pedals – They control the flight’s yaw. The pilots use these pedals to steer the airplane on the ground.
• Pilot seats – As the name suggests, these are for the pilot and co-pilot.
• Flight controls – These help to steer the airplane in the air. They allow the pilot to keep the flight under control and help it land safely.
• Instrument panel – This is almost like a car’s dashboard. It provides the flight’s information, such as fuel capacity, engine performance, distance traveled, distance left, and various other details.
3. Wings
An airplane’s wings’ lift production helps to give direction to the flight. It also contains various parts, such as flaps, ailerons, spoilers, slats, and winglets.
• Flaps – The trailing edge of the wings contains the flaps. They move symmetrically on different sides and create higher lifts and drags. Flaps are essential during landing and takeoff. They create additional lifts and increase or decrease the flight’s speed.
• Ailerons – Ailerons, along with rudder and elevator, are the three essential control surfaces of an airplane. They help pilots control the plane’s roll from left to right or vice versa.
• Spoilers – Spoilers help pilots descend the airplane and reduce its lift component.
• Slats – Slats are like flaps that help in changing the airplane’s direction by temporarily increasing the wings’ lift capacity.
• Winglet – Winglets reduces the flight’s induced drag.
4. Tail
An airplane’s tail provides stability and creates lifts by combining with the wings. The most important parts of a tail are the vertical stabilizer and rudder and horizontal stabilizer and elevator.
• Vertical stabilizer and rudder – It allows the aircraft to weathervane into relative wind. The vertical stabilizer prevents side-to-side motion of the airplane’s nose. On the other hand, the rudder controls the vertical stabilizer’s trailing edge. It allows the pilot to control the left and right pedals efficiently.
• Horizontal stabilizer and elevator – The horizontal stabilizer prevents the aircraft’s nose from going up and down. The stabilizer’s hinged part allows the pilot to pull back on the yoke, thus pushing the elevators to go up and the tail to come down while increasing the flight’s lift.
5. Engine
The engine is the airplane’s powerhouse. It creates the thrust that the aircraft needs to fly. Airplanes usually have two types of engines: turbine and reciprocating.
6. Propeller
The propeller creates thrust to the airplane’s drive, thus allowing it to move forward. You will see the propeller attached to the engine. It spins quickly to create a lift that creates pressure differences that help the aircraft to move upwards. The sudden thrust causes the wings to cut through the air, thus creating a vertical lift.
7. Landing gear
Landing gear softens the impact of the shock strut, front tire, and back tire when the plane lands. It is a retractable part that goes inside the fuselage once the plane lands safely.
An airplane’s smooth functioning depends on these parts. They combine together to make flights safe for everyone.