The Big NOISY Book of PL A NES REVISED EDITION Assistant editor Debangana Banerjee Editor Ishani Nandi Art editor Shipra Jain Senior editors Marie Greenwood, Shatarupa Chaudhuri Senior art editors Jim Green, Nishesh Batnagar DTP designers Bimlesh Tiwary, Syed Md Farhan Managing editors Laura Gilbert, Alka Thakur Hazarika Managing art editors Diane Peyton Jones, Romi Chakraborty CTS manager Balwant Singh Production manager Pankaj Sharma Producer, pre-production Nadine King Picture researcher Aditya Katyal Publisher Sarah Larter Jacket designers Kartik Gera, Dheeraj Arora Additional text Reg Grant Consultant Reg Grant ORIGINAL EDITION Written and edited by Lorrie Mack Designers Cheryl Telfer, Helen Chapman Publishing manager Sue Leonard Managing art editor Clare Shedden Jacket design Chris Drew Picture researcher Sarah Stewart-Richardson Production Shivani Pandey DTP designer Almudena Díaz DTP assistant Pilar Morales Consultant Ben Morgan First published in Great Britain in 2004 This edition first published in Great Britain in 2016 by Dorling Kindersley Limited 80 Strand, London, WC2R 0RL Copyright © 2004, © 2016 Dorling Kindersley Limited, London A Penguin Random House Company 2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1 001–284735–Mar/2016 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978-0-2412-2828-9 Printed and bound in China A WORLD OF IDEAS: SEE ALL THERE IS TO KNOW Dorling Kindersley would like to thank: Kristin Snow at Air Tractor, Inc., Olney, Texas; Jack Brown’s Seaplane Base, Florida; Dan Sweet at Columbia Helicopters, Portland, Oregon; Major Mike Chapa and John Haire at Edwards Air Force base, California; Fantasy of Flight, Florida; Chris Finnigan, BMAA, Oxfordshire; Ellen Bendell at Lockheed Martin, Palmdale, California; Beth Hagenauer at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California; Nancy Machado and Duane Swing at Velocity Inc, Sebastian, Florida. The publisher would like to thank the following for their kind permission to reproduce their photographs: Position key: c=center; b=bottom; l=left; r=right; t=top. 3 Alamy Images: Stocktrek Images, Inc. / Andrew Chittock (crb). Corbis: Transtock / Robert Kerian (cr). 4-5 Getty Images: Science & Society Picture Library (c). 5 Alamy Images: LOC Photo (bc); Paul Briden (crb). Getty Images: Science & Society Picture Library (tr). 6 Donald Browning: (tl). 8 NASA: (tl). 10 NASA: (cla). 10-11 Deutsche Lufthansa AG. 11 Getty Images: AFP / Mark RALSTON (tl); Bloomberg / Chris Ratcliffe (cr). 12 123RF. com: Thomas Dutour (clb). Alamy Images: AV8 Collection 2 (tl). 12-13 Dreamstime.com: Ermess (b). 13 Dreamstime.com: Micka (tc). 14 Air Tractor inc: (clb). 16-17 Velocity Inc: (All Images on the spread). 18 E.J. Koningsveld: (tl). Plane Picture Company: John M. Dibbs (c). 18-19 E.J. Koningsveld: (b). 19 The Flight Collection: Quadrant Picture Library / Chris Bennett (br). Plane Picture Company: John M. Dibbs (t). 20 NASA: Jim Ross (tl). 21 NASA: Tony Landis (cr). 22-23 Dorling Kindersley: RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (c). iStockphoto.com: Andy_Oxley (b). 22 Dreamstime.com: VanderWolf Images (tl). 23 iStockphoto.com: Andy_Oxley (t). 24 P&M Aviation: (tl). 26 Alamy Images: TRISTAR PHOTOS (cl). 26-27 Alamy Images: i car (b); Chris Laurens (c). 27 Alamy Images: Peter Titmuss (tc). 28-29 Alamy Images: MERVYN REES (b). 28 NASA: (cla). 30-31 Alamy Images: Stocktrek Images, Inc. / Andrew Chittock (c). 30 NAVY.mil: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Brian Morales (bl). 31 NAVY.mil: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Betsy Knapper (tc). Rex Shutterstock: Terry Harris (cb). 32 Solar Impulse: Revillard / Rezo.ch (tr). 32-33 Solar Impulse: Revillard / Rezo.ch (c). 33 Solar Impulse: Revillard / Rezo.ch (t, br). 34 Columbia Helicopters: (tl). 36 NASA: (tc). 36-37 Corbis: Peter Turnley (c). NASA: (b). 37 NAVY.mil: U.S. Navy photo by Journalist 2nd Class Mark O’Donald (crb). 38 Edwards Airforce Base: (bl). 42-43 Alamy Images: age fotostock (t). 42 Getty Images: USAF / Handout (bl). 43 Corbis: Transtock / Robert Kerian (b). U.S. Air Force: Senior Master Sgt. Kim Frey (cra). 44 Alamy Images: Stocktrek Images, Inc. (bl). SpaceX: (tr). 44-45 SpaceX: (c). 45 SpaceX: (tr). 46 Dreamstime.com: Stepan Popov (cl). NASA: X-43A Development Team, DFRC, NASA (tr). 46-47 Dreamstime.com: Ivan Cholakov (b). 47 Courtesy AgustaWestland: (cr). iStockphoto.com: Ryan Mulhall (t). NASA: (cla). All other images © Dorling Kindersley. For further information see: www.dkimages.com Contents The first aeroplane . . . . . . 4 Gee Bee . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Experimental planes . . . . . . 8 Jumbo jet . . . . . . . . . . 10 Biplane . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Agricultural aeroplane . . . . . 14 Kit aeroplane . . . . . . . . . . 16 Stunt planes . . . . . . . . . . 18 Flying laboratory . . . . . . . . 20 Spitfire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Microlight . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Concorde . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Blackbird . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Jump jet . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Solar Impulse . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Chinook helicopter . . . . . . . . 34 Flying at sea . . . . . . . . . . . 36 F-16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Seaplane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Stealth bomber . . . . . . . . . . 42 Space flight . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Record breakers . . . . . . . . . 46 Glossary and index . . . . . . . 48 The first aeroplane The American brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright launched the world’s first powered aeroplane flight on 17 December 1903. Their longest flight that day lasted only 59 seconds, but it proved that powered flight was possible. Every aeroplane made since then has descended from the Wright Flyer. The rear rudder turned the aircraft The aircraft to right or left The Wright Flyer was driven by two narrow propellers The Wright brothers built the behind the pilot Flyer in their workshop at Dayton, Ohio, USA. Starting from scratch, they designed and tested every part, from the propellers to the control system and wing shape. By 1905, a version of their Flyer could stay airborne for 38 minutes. The engine was connected to the propellers by chain drives, similar to a bicycle’s The aircraft was braced with lengths of steel piano wire The wings were a frame made of light ash wood, covered with cotton muslin cloth The thin struts between the two wings were made of spruce wood 4 The Flyer had In 1904, the Wright brothers’ a wingspan of second plane, Flyer II, flew around 12 m (40 ft) using a catapult The aircraft sat on a launch rail The catapult pushed the aircraft forwards by dropping a weight hung from a wooden frame Launchpad To help their aircraft take off without a strong wind, the Wright brothers designed a catapult in 1904. They made hundreds of flights using the catapult near their home in Ohio. The engine had four cylinders, delivering The elevators at the 12 horsepower front of the aircraft could be moved to make it go up or down The engine, made mostly of aluminium, weighed only 82 kg (180 lbs) The pilot flew the plane lying on his front in a cradle on the lower wing, next to the engine Original engine Charlie Taylor, an assistant to the Wright brothers, designed and built a petrol engine for the Flyer. It was about as powerful as the engines This historic photo shows the very first aeroplane flight commonly used in modern-day in 1903. Wilbur is standing on the right, while Orville lies inside, piloting the aircraft. go-karts for children. 5 Gee Bee Take a massive engine, add a pair of unusually short wings, and allow a tiny space for the pilot’s cockpit. The result will probably look something like the spectacular Gee Bee Super Sportster, a plane that thrilled air-racing crowds in 1930s USA with its extraordinary speed and daredevil tactics. This Gee Bee has reached a top speed of 305 kph (190 mph). Two-blade propeller Location of firewall Fuel cap The fuel tank is located in front of the pilot Propeller hub The plane is built around a steel frame. The frame is covered with beaten aluminium sheets The wings are only 10 cm (4 in) thick Covers help Flaps called elevators air flow over Bracing are lowered to bring the wheels wires the plane’s nose down 6 Small but powerful The wingspan is around 7 m (23 ft) The Gee Bee is powered by a massive 535-horsepower engine. That’s more than three times the power of engines commonly used Starboard in light aircraft today. or right-hand Port or left-hand landing gear landing gear Pitot tube Bracing wires indicates add strength air speed Recreating the past The yellow-and-black Gee Bee is a replica of a 1931 plane that only flew for 124 days before crashing. The replica took two people three years Elevator to build, between 1993 and 1996. Rear landing The canopy lifts off so gear, or tailwheel the pilot can climb in The Gee Bee is just over “Gee Bee” stands for 4.5 m (15 ft) in length Granville Brothers A slice of history The rudder is The rudder is used The Gee Bee planes were designed to fit an airframe controlled by wire to control direction that was as small as possible around the largest possible engine. They took their name from the initial letters The tailwheel swivels of their original inventors, the Granville Brothers. The but cannot be steered brothers’ aircraft company built a total of 23 aeroplanes, including three Super Sportsters. 7 Experimental planes In the 1940s, the speed of sound was seen as a huge invisible barrier to the speed at which an aeroplane could fly. Planes that flew too near to this speed broke up after terrible buffeting. This changed with the X-planes, an experimental series of aircraft built to break all previous The X-1E and X-15 were launched from speed and altitude records. the wing of a larger plane. A black dart The X-15 is an incredible plane. Wedge-shaped tail Only three X-15s were ever built. They made a total of 199 flights between 1959 and 1968. The fastest recorded speed was an astounding 7,278 kph (4,522 mph). It is the This X-15 is a fastest rocket plane ever. replica. The original that carried this The X-15 is a tail number crashed little more than 15 m (50 ft) long The X-15 is shaped like a missile Just before landing, a rudder attached to this vertical fin is discarded and two landing skids are lowered 8