Editing Aircraft (section)

== Methods of lift ==
=== Lighter-than-air ===
{{Main|Aerostat}}Lighter-than-air aircraft or ''[[aerostat]]s'' 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 [[lifting gas]] such as [[helium]], [[hydrogen]] or [[Hot air balloon|hot air]], which is less [[Density|dense]] than the surrounding air. Other gases lighter than air also theoretically work, however, such gases also needs to be same for human use (non-flammable, non-toxic).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-01-12 |title=What Is a Lifting Gas? - National Aviation Academy |url=https://www.naa.edu/lifting-gas/ |access-date=2025-04-26 |language=en-US}}</ref>

Small hot-air balloons, called [[sky lantern]]s, were first invented in ancient China prior to the 3rd century BC and used primarily in cultural celebrations, although they also had military purposes.<ref>{{Cite web |date=26 May 2024 |title=The Fascinating History of Hot Air Balloons: From Ancient Sky Lanterns to Modern Marvels |work=History Tools |url=https://www.historytools.org/stories/the-fascinating-history-of-hot-air-balloons-from-ancient-sky-lanterns-to-modern-marvels |access-date=26 April 2025}}</ref> They, along with [[kite]]s, were two forms of [[Unmanned aerial vehicle|unmanned]] aircraft that originated from China.<ref>{{Cite web |last=MAK |date=2025-01-22 |title=The Origin of Kites in Ancient China - CS Kites |url=https://cskites.com/blog/the-origin-of-kites-in-ancient-china/ |access-date=2025-04-26 |language=en-US}}</ref> Kites were also used in the military, but unlike sky lanterns, their flight is caused by the differences of air pressure beneath and above the kite.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ashish |date=2016-08-02 |title=Why Is It Difficult To Fly Kites On Non-Windy Days? |url=https://www.scienceabc.com/pure-sciences/physics-kite-flying-how-to-make-aerodynamic-structure.html#:~:text=Kites%20fly%20because%20of%20the%20aerodynamic%20forces%20of,of%20the%20kite%20is%20balanced%20by%20the%20lift. |access-date=2025-04-26 |website=ScienceABC |language=en-US}}</ref>[[File:Colorado Springs Hot Air Balloon Competition.jpg|thumb|Hot air [[Balloon (aeronautics)|balloons]]]]
[[File:USS Akron (ZRS-4) in flight over Manhattan, circa 1931-1933.jpg|thumb|Airship [[USS Akron|USS ''Akron'']] over Manhattan in the 1930s]]A [[balloon (aeronautics)|balloon]] was originally any aerostat, while the term [[airship]] was used for large, powered aircraft designs&nbsp;— usually fixed-wing.<ref>[http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth172915/ US patent 467069] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223070653/http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark%3A/67531/metapth172915/ |date=23 February 2014}} "Air-ship" referring to a compound aerostat/rotorcraft.</ref><ref>[[Ezekiel Airship]] (1902) [http://www.wright-brothers.org/History_Wing/History_of_the_Airplane/History_of_the_Airplane_Intro/History_of_the_Airplane_Intro.htm wright-brothers.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203131729/http://www.wright-brothers.org/History_Wing/History_of_the_Airplane/History_of_the_Airplane_Intro/History_of_the_Airplane_Intro.htm |date=3 December 2013}}[http://altereddimensions.net/2012/burrell-cannon-flies-first-airplane altereddimensions.net] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222065900/http://altereddimensions.net/2012/burrell-cannon-flies-first-airplane |date=22 February 2014}} "airship," – referring to an HTA aeroplane.</ref><ref>[http://gustavewhitehead.org/news_journalism/1901_-_flying.html The Bridgeport Herald, August 18, 1901] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130803021718/http://gustavewhitehead.org/news_journalism/1901_-_flying.html |date=3 August 2013}} – "air ship" referring to Whitehead's aeroplane.</ref><ref>Cooley Airship of 1910, also called the Cooley monoplane.{{Cite web|url=http://www.wright-brothers.org/History_Wing/Aviations_Attic/UFOs/UFOs.htm|title=Unbelievable Flying Objects|access-date=10 February 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102031147/http://www.wright-brothers.org/History_Wing/Aviations_Attic/UFOs/UFOs.htm|archive-date=2 November 2013}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.xpolet.eu.org|title=Round Aircraft Designs|access-date=7 September 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402075442/http://celticowboy.com/Round%20Aircraft%20Designs.htm|archive-date=2 April 2012}} – a heavier-than-air monoplane.</ref><ref>Frater, A.; ''The Balloon Factory'', Picador (2009), p. 163. Wright brothers' "airship."</ref><ref>[http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/content.asp?Bnum=879 George Griffith, ''The angel of the Revolution'', 1893] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222154830/http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/content.asp?Bnum=879 |date=22 February 2014}}&nbsp;— "air-ship," "vessel" referring to a VTOL compound rotorcraft (not clear from the reference if it might be an aerostat hybrid.)</ref> In 1919, [[Frederick Handley Page]] was reported as referring to "ships of the air," with smaller passenger types as "Air yachts."<ref>[http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=AS19190224.2.104 Auckland Star, 24 February 1919] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140324163806/http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=AS19190224.2.104 |date=24 March 2014}} "Ships of the air," "Air yachts" – passenger landplanes large and small</ref> In the 1930s, large intercontinental flying boats were also sometimes referred to as "ships of the air" or "flying-ships".<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17455790 The Sydney Morning Herald, Monday 11 April 1938] – "ship of the airs," "flying-ship," referring to a large flying-boat.</ref><ref>[http://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/america-by-air/online/innovation/innovation16.cfm Smithsonian, America by air] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140118135217/http://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/america-by-air/online/innovation/innovation16.cfm |date=18 January 2014}} "Ships of the Air" referring to Pan Am's Boeing Clipper flying-boat fleet.</ref>

=== Heavier-than-air{{Anchor|Heavier than air}} ===
Heavier-than-air aircraft or ''aerodynes'' are denser than air and thus must find some way to obtain enough [[Lift (physics)|lift]] that can overcome the aircraft's weight. There are two ways to produce dynamic upthrust — [[aerodynamic lift]] by having air flowing past an [[aerofoil]] (such dynamic interaction of aerofoils with air is the origin of the term "aerodyne"), or [[powered lift]] in the form of [[Reaction (physics)|reactional]] lift from downward engine [[thrust]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Laurent |date=2023-11-15 |title=Understanding the Aerodynamic Forces in Flight |url=https://www.studyflight.com/understanding-the-aerodynamic-forces-in-flight/ |access-date=2025-04-26 |website=Study flight |language=fr-FR}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=13 May 2021 |title=Rocket Principles |url=https://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/k-12/rocket/TRCRocket/rocket_principles.html |access-date=26 April 2025 |website=NASA}}</ref>

Aerodynamic lift involving [[wing]]s is the most common, and can be achieved via two methods. [[Fixed-wing aircraft]] ([[airplane]]s and [[Glider (aircraft)|gliders]]) achieve airflow past the wings by having the entire aircraft moving forward through the air, while [[rotorcraft]] ([[helicopter]]s and [[autogyro]]s) do so by having [[Rotor wing|mobile, elongated wings]] spinning rapidly around a mast in an assembly known as the [[Helicopter rotor|rotor]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-12-20 |title=2.1.2: Rotorcraft |url=https://eng.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Aerospace_Engineering/Fundamentals_of_Aerospace_Engineering_(Arnedo)/02:_Generalities/2.01:_Classification_of_aerospace_vehicles/2.1.02:_Rotorcraft |access-date=2025-04-26 |website=Engineering LibreTexts |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

==== Fixed-wing Aircraft ====
{{Main|Fixed-wing aircraft}}
[[Glider (sailplane)|Gliders]] were one of the first forms of a fixed wing aircraft. They are a special type of aircraft that doesn't require an engine.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Gliders {{!}} Glenn Research Center {{!}} NASA |url=https://www1.grc.nasa.gov/beginners-guide-to-aeronautics/gliders/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250308232351/https://www1.grc.nasa.gov/beginners-guide-to-aeronautics/gliders/ |archive-date=2025-03-08 |access-date=2025-04-26 |work=Glenn Research Center {{!}} NASA |language=en-US}}</ref> The first person to successfully build a human-carrying glider was [[George Cayley]], who also was the first to discover the four major aerodynamic forces.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Pioneers : An Anthology : Sir George Cayley Bt. (1773 - 1857) |url=https://ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/cayley.html |access-date=2025-04-26 |website=ctie.monash.edu.au}}</ref> The first powered aircraft ([[Airplane]]) was invented by [[Wright brothers|Wilbur and Orville Wright]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-12-01 |title=Who Invented the Airplane? (Grades K-4) - NASA |url=https://www.nasa.gov/learning-resources/for-kids-and-students/who-invented-the-airplane-grades-k-4/ |access-date=2025-04-26 |language=en-US}}</ref>

==== Rotorcraft ====
{{Main|Rotorcraft}}{{More citations needed section|date=April 2025}}
A ''rotary-wing aircraft'', ''rotorwing aircraft'' or ''rotorcraft'' is a heavier-than-air aircraft with [[Rotor wing|rotary wings]] that spin around a vertical mast to generate [[Lift (force)|lift]]. The assembly of several rotor blades mounted on a single mast is referred to as a [[Helicopter rotor|rotor]]. The [[International Civil Aviation Organization]] (ICAO) defines a rotorcraft as "supported in flight by the reactions of the air on one or more rotors".<ref>"ICAO Annex 7." Retrieved on 30 September 2009.</ref>

Rotorcraft generally include aircraft where one or more rotors provide lift throughout the entire flight, such as [[helicopter]]s, [[gyroplane]]s, [[autogyro]]s, and [[gyrodyne]]s Compound rotorcraft augment the rotor with additional thrust engines, propellers, or static lifting surfaces. Some types, such as helicopters, are capable of [[VTOL|vertical takeoff and landing]]. An aircraft which uses rotor lift for vertical flight but changes to solely fixed-wing lift in horizontal flight is not a rotorcraft but a [[convertiplane]].[[File:Mil Mi-8P, Baltic Airlines (cropped).jpg|thumb|The [[Mil Mi-8]] is the most produced rotorcraft.]]

==== Other methods of lift ====
{{Further|Lifting body}}

* A [[lifting body]] is an aircraft which produces lift through the shape of its body, rather than its wings or rotors, like conventional aircraft. Lifting bodies were first experimented by NASA in the 1960s-70s, but the idea was already conceived in the 1950s.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-02-28 |title=Lifting Bodies - NASA |url=https://www.nasa.gov/aeronautics/aircraft/lifting-bodies/ |access-date=2025-04-27 |language=en-US}}</ref>
* A [[powered lift]] aircraft is one which has the capability of vertical [[takeoff]] and [[landing]]. These aircraft must transition from vertical to lateral movement, which is considered the most dangerous phases of a flight.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Powered-Lift Aircraft {{!}} SKYbrary Aviation Safety |url=https://skybrary.aero/articles/powered-lift-aircraft |access-date=2025-04-27 |website=skybrary.aero}}</ref> Classes of powered lift types include [[VTOL]] jet aircraft (such as the [[Harrier jump jet]]) and [[tiltrotor]]s, such as the [[Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey]], among others.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Siminski |first=Jacek |date=2013-04-11 |title=Harrier: The Story Of The "Jump Jet" That Helped Margaret Thatcher Win The Falklands War |url=https://theaviationist.com/2013/04/11/harrier-story/ |access-date=2025-04-27 |website=The Aviationist |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=V-22 Osprey |url=https://www.aviation.marines.mil/About/Aircraft/Tilt-Rotor/pubDate/20250423/ |access-date=27 April 2025 |website=Marines}}</ref>
* An [[ornithopter]] is an aircraft that produces lift through the movement of its wings, akin to how a bird flies.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2010-09-24 |title='World's first' ornithopter takes flight |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-11410410 |access-date=2025-04-27 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>