Beginners guide to the wings

How the wings work

An airplane’s wings usually are curved on the top, and flat, or less curved, on the bottom. So that means that since both top, and bottom, of the wing move at the same time, but the air on the top travels more distance so it needs to go faster than the air on the bottom.

As Bernoulli’s principle states, an increase in flow results in a decrease of pressure. Which means, that air that moves slower, has higher pressure than air that moves faster.

So , the air on top has less pressure than the bottom. The bottom, which has more pressure, will go up to mix with the top to have equal pressure. That upward airflow is what causes an airplane to go up.

The force that pushes the airplane up is called lift. The force that pushes it down is called weight. The force that pushes it forward is called thrust, and the force that pushes it backward is called drag.

The wing is divided the short way into many sections. The walls separating the sections are called ribs. Spars run the long way in the wing and are used to help hold up the skin. The skin is the layer of metal that covers the inside of the wing. The wing root connects to the fuselage. The trailing edge, is the side of the wing with the flaps and ailerons. The leading edge is the side facing forwards, and the wing tip is, well, the tip of the wing.

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All you need to know about airplanes

How the wings work

An airplane’s wings usually are curved on the top, and flat, or less curved, on the bottom. So that means that since both top, and bottom, of the wing move at the same time, but the air on the top travels more distance so it needs to go faster than the air on the bottom.

As Bernoulli’s principle states, an increase in flow results in a decrease of pressure. Which means, that air that moves slower, has higher pressure than air that moves faster.

So , the air on top has less pressure than the bottom. The bottom, which has more pressure, will go up to mix with the top to have equal pressure. That upward airflow is what causes an airplane to go up.

The force that pushes the airplane up is called lift. The force that pushes it down is called weight. The force that pushes it forward is called thrust, and the force that pushes it backward is called drag.