Editing Flight (section)

==== Mechanical ====<!-- This section is linked from [[Anthony Fokker]] -->
{{Main|Aviation}}
[[File:Flight.rob.arp.750pix.jpg|thumb|Mechanical flight: A [[Robinson R22]] Beta [[helicopter]]]]

'''Mechanical flight''' is the use of a [[machine]] to fly. These machines include [[aircraft]] such as [[airplane]]s, [[glider aircraft|gliders]], [[helicopter]]s, [[autogyro]]s, [[airship]]s, [[balloon (aircraft)|balloons]], [[ornithopter]]s as well as [[spacecraft]]. [[glider aircraft|Gliders]] are capable of unpowered flight. Another form of mechanical flight is para-sailing, where a parachute-like object is pulled by a boat. In an airplane, lift is created by the wings; the shape of the wings of the airplane are designed specially for the type of flight desired. There are different types of wings: tempered, semi-tempered, sweptback, rectangular and elliptical. An aircraft wing is sometimes called an [[airfoil]], which is a device that creates lift when air flows across it.

===== Supersonic =====
{{Main|Supersonic speed}}
Supersonic flight is flight faster than the [[speed of sound]]. Supersonic flight is associated with the formation of [[shock wave]]s that form a [[sonic boom]] that can be heard from the ground,<ref>Bern, Peter. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/3207470.stm "Concorde: You asked a pilot."] ''BBC'', October 23, 2003.</ref> and is frequently startling. The creation of this shockwave requires a significant amount of energy; because of this, supersonic flight is generally less efficient than subsonic flight at about 85% of the speed of sound.

===== Hypersonic =====
{{Main|Hypersonic speed}}
Hypersonic flight is very high speed flight where the heat generated by the compression of the air due to the motion through the air causes chemical changes to the air. Hypersonic flight is achieved primarily by reentering spacecraft such as the [[Space Shuttle]] and [[Soyuz spacecraft|Soyuz]].
[[File:ISS after STS-117 in June 2007.jpg|thumb|The [[International Space Station]] in Earth [[orbit]]]]