The Airplane

An airplane is a machine that can fly. It has big wings and strong engines. People ride inside to travel far away. Airplanes can cross oceans in just a few hours. Before airplanes, long trips took weeks or months. Now we can visit any country in the world in less than a day.

Who Invented the Airplane?

Two brothers named Orville and Wilbur Wright built the first airplane. They were from Ohio in the United States. They fixed bikes for their job. They also loved to study birds and how they flew. In 1903, they flew their plane for the very first time. The flight was in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. It lasted only 12 seconds. But it changed the world forever.

An old flying machine shaped like a big bird.
An old flying machine shaped like a big bird. (Pépin fils from Brest / Wikimedia Commons)

How Do Airplanes Fly?

Airplanes fly because of their wings. The wings have a special shape. Air moves over and under them. This makes a force called lift. Lift pushes the plane up into the sky. Engines push the plane forward very fast. A pilot sits in the front and flies the plane. Big airplanes can carry hundreds of people at one time.

Fun Facts

  • The first airplane flight was shorter than the length of a jumbo jet today.
  • A jumbo jet has about six million parts.
  • Airplanes can fly higher than the tallest mountains on Earth.

Did You Know?

The fastest jet airplane can fly more than three times the speed of sound, which is faster than a bullet from a gun.