How do Airplanes Fly

Jul 9, 2026

Upload by Eliana

A story about Sarla’s curiosity in science class and her fascination with birds and airplanes. Prompted by her teacher Hamsa, Sarla explores the library and learns how flight works for different aerial creatures. The narrative explains that birds rely on large, light wings and flapping powered by wind, while airplanes are heavy machines with wing shapes and engines that generate airflow and push the plane forward using hot gases released from burning fuel.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLifestyle

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time31 min

What Sarla Sees

Learning in the Library

How Birds Fly

Wings and Wind

How Airplanes Fly

Wings and Engine Power

How do Airplanes Fly? Aditi Sarawagi Lavanya Karthik Sarla liked to watch birds fly. One day, during science class, she looked out of the window and saw an eagle gliding in the sky. How happy the bird must be! She also liked to see planes flying. ”Here, what’s your name? Should you not be looking at the board?” asked the new teacher in Sarla’s class. Sarla got up hastily and said,”Sorry Madam, I was watching an eagle. I wish we could fly like a bird, or like an aeroplane.... ””What is your name?””Sarla.” ”Oh how nice! Do you know that Sarla was the name of the first Indian women pilot too? My name, Hamsa, means a swan . Swans are oneof the largest flying birds, you know,” said the teacher.”You must spend some time in the library, Sarla. I’m sure there are many books about birds and flights, and machines that fly like aeroplanes.” Over the next few days, Sarla happily learnt alot about birds, and about aeroplanes. 4 Sarla learnt that human beings can fly too, but not like birds. We can fly to any city in the world in an aeroplane, one of mankind’s greatest inventions. With the help of this great machine, we can also experience the joy of being airborne. Birds are aerial creatures that do not need an external machine to fly. Usually, a bird’s wings are bigger than therest of its body. The wings are very light, making it possible for birds to fly. 6 Aeroplanes are huge and very heavy. Just like birds, aeroplanes have wings on both their sides which help them to fly. The wings of the plane are shaped just like those of birds-curved on the top and flat on the bottom which helps them to fly high up in the sky. Birds flap their wings to fly, but of course we have never seen an aeroplane flapping its wings! Birds flap their wings as they use the wind to push their body upwards. Aeroplanes also fly with the help of the force of the wind. This machine uses the engine inside its body to create wind that flows below the plane. An engine is a very strong machine which acts like the brain of the plane. Just like a bird uses its mind and logic to navigate its flight, engines help planes to push them above the ground and to help them move forward. When the plane’s engines burn fuel, they release hot gases at high speeds which push on the air behind the engine, moving the plane forward.

FAQs

How do airplanes move and fly forward?

Airplanes rely on their wing shape and an engine that burns fuel, releases hot gases at high speed, and pushes the plane forward by acting on the air behind the engine.

Jul 9, 2026

Upload by Eliana