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Transport & Travel
Routes, Rails & Runways
The canals, railways and machines that shortened the world.
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Which canal connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea?
How Aircraft Actually Fly
Ten questions on what keeps an airliner in the air, and on the system built around it to keep them apart.
About this topic
Flight is often explained badly, with a diagram showing air taking a longer path over the top of a wing and somehow arriving at the same time. The honest version is simpler: a wing pushes a large amount of air downwards, and the air pushes the wing up by the same amount. Everything else — the shape of the aerofoil, the flaps, the angle of attack — is about doing that efficiently and predictably. The second half of this quiz is about the system rather than the machine. Separation, holding patterns, flight levels and pressurisation are all answers to problems that only appear once thousands of aircraft share the same sky. The explanations give the numbers where they are stable, and say where a familiar claim is more complicated than it sounds.
Questions & answers
How Aircraft Actually Fly: all 10 questions and answers
Every question in this quiz is listed below with its correct answer and the reasoning behind it. Play first if you would rather not see the answers — or read through as a study sheet.
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1An aircraft wing generates lift chiefly by doing what?
- A Being lighter than the air surrounding it
- B Spinning fast enough to create suction
- C Trapping warm air beneath the fuselage
- D Deflecting air downwards as it passes Correct
Answer: D. Deflecting air downwards as it passes
Why: Push air down and the air pushes the wing up, which is Newton's third law. The pressure difference across the wing describes the same effect in different terms.
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2Which control surfaces make an aircraft roll?
- A The rudder
- B The spoilers
- C The ailerons Correct
- D The elevators
Answer: C. The ailerons
Why: They sit near each wingtip on the trailing edge and move in opposite directions. Elevators control pitch and the rudder controls yaw.
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3A jet engine produces thrust by doing what?
- A Heating the air above the aircraft
- B Accelerating air rearwards through the engine Correct
- C Burning fuel to pressurise the wings
- D Driving an external propeller only
Answer: B. Accelerating air rearwards through the engine
Why: Most airliner engines are high-bypass turbofans, where the majority of the air goes around the core rather than through it. That arrangement is both quieter and far more efficient in cruise.
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4Wing flaps are extended for landing in order to do what?
- A Allow the aircraft to fly safely at a lower speed Correct
- B Raise the maximum cruising speed
- C Reduce fuel burn on approach
- D Lower the cabin temperature
Answer: A. Allow the aircraft to fly safely at a lower speed
Why: They increase the wing's curvature and often its area, raising lift and drag together. The extra drag is welcome on approach, where slowing down is the whole point.
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5Airliner cabins are pressurised because at cruising altitude what is true?
- A The outside air is too cold to warm any other way
- B Radio signals cannot cross unpressurised air
- C The engines draw combustion air from the cabin
- D The outside air is far too thin to breathe safely Correct
Answer: D. The outside air is far too thin to breathe safely
Why: Cabins are typically held at a pressure equivalent to somewhere between 1,800 and 2,400 metres rather than sea level. Air bled from the engine compressors is the usual source.
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6An aircraft's so-called black box is in fact what colour?
- A Polished silver
- B Red and white stripes
- C Bright orange Correct
- D Matte black
Answer: C. Bright orange
Why: The colour is chosen so that searchers can pick it out of wreckage. Two units are normally fitted, one recording flight data and the other cockpit audio.
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7Air traffic controllers keep aircraft apart using what?
- A Priority given to the largest aircraft
- B Assigned altitudes, headings and minimum separation distances Correct
- C A single agreed cruising speed for all traffic
- D Routes that reverse direction each day
Answer: B. Assigned altitudes, headings and minimum separation distances
Why: Airways are stacked into flight levels so aircraft can pass safely above and below one another. Radar handles busy airspace and satellite position reporting covers the oceans.
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8A holding pattern is flown for what reason?
- A To wait for clearance to begin an approach Correct
- B To burn off fuel before takeoff
- C To test the autopilot in cruise
- D To give passengers a view of a landmark
Answer: A. To wait for clearance to begin an approach
Why: It is an oval racetrack flown at an assigned altitude, with legs usually timed at one minute. Aircraft stack up in it and leave from the bottom as clearance comes.
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9Contrails form behind an aircraft because the exhaust does what?
- A Burns a gap through an existing cloud layer
- B Releases soot that hangs in still air
- C Cools the surrounding air until it becomes visible
- D Adds water vapour to very cold air, which condenses and freezes Correct
Answer: D. Adds water vapour to very cold air, which condenses and freezes
Why: They only persist where the surrounding air is already humid enough to sustain ice crystals. Their warming effect through the cloud they seed is an active question in climate research.
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10Flights from Europe to North America usually take longer than the return leg. Why?
- A They carry more fuel and so more weight
- B They follow a longer great-circle track
- C They fly against the jet stream Correct
- D They must cruise at a lower altitude
Answer: C. They fly against the jet stream
Why: The polar jet stream blows from west to east and can exceed 200 knots. Eastbound flights ride it and routinely save an hour or more.
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