How planes fly: what really keeps them in the air
Engine failure: what happens when a plane's engines stop in the air
In 1983, an airliner ran out of fuel high over Canada, and both of its engines stopped. It did not fall out of the sky. So what do the engines of a plane really do?
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1
Rono thinks the engines hold the plane up. With no engines, he pictures it dropping like a stone.
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2
Four pushes act on a plane in the air. Its weight pulls it down, and the lift of the wings holds it up. The air also pushes back against the plane as it moves: that is drag. The engines push it forward: that is thrust.
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