7 Flight Mystery and Aerodynamic Principles
457
Fig. 7.14 Classification of aircraft
The various aircraft made by humans (as shown in Fig. 7.15) have very
different flying heights. The size of the aircraft and birds is represented by
the horizontal coordinate, and the height of the flight is represented by the
vertical coordinate. Regardless of the scale or height, the birds are concentrated in a small place in the lower left corner (as shown in Fig. 7.16).
For example, the world’s largest bird (albatross) has a wingspan of up to 4
meters. While the wingspan length of the man-made airplane can reach tens
of meters, such as the A380 produced by Airbus, with a wingspan length of
80 meters. From the perspective of flying height, the flying height of ordinary
birds is one or two kilometers, even the bird with the highest flying can only
fly at an altitude of 9,000 m. The man-made aircraft often cruises at a height
of about 10,000 meters. For example, the flight altitude of civil airliners is
about 11,000 km, far exceeding the flight height of birds. In addition, highaltitude airships generally fly around 20,000 meters of height, satellites are
further away from the atmosphere.
In terms of flight speed, the speed of birds and the speed of man-made
aircraft are also not on the same order of magnitude (as shown in Fig. 7.17).
Birds usually fly at speeds of a few tens of kilometers per hour, even the
fastest flying swift can only reach 170 km/h. The speed of man-made aircraft
far exceeds that of birds. The flight speed of civil airliners is 800–900 km/h,
the speed of modern supersonic fighters is more than 2000 km/h, and the
457
Fig. 7.14 Classification of aircraft
The various aircraft made by humans (as shown in Fig. 7.15) have very
different flying heights. The size of the aircraft and birds is represented by
the horizontal coordinate, and the height of the flight is represented by the
vertical coordinate. Regardless of the scale or height, the birds are concentrated in a small place in the lower left corner (as shown in Fig. 7.16).
For example, the world’s largest bird (albatross) has a wingspan of up to 4
meters. While the wingspan length of the man-made airplane can reach tens
of meters, such as the A380 produced by Airbus, with a wingspan length of
80 meters. From the perspective of flying height, the flying height of ordinary
birds is one or two kilometers, even the bird with the highest flying can only
fly at an altitude of 9,000 m. The man-made aircraft often cruises at a height
of about 10,000 meters. For example, the flight altitude of civil airliners is
about 11,000 km, far exceeding the flight height of birds. In addition, highaltitude airships generally fly around 20,000 meters of height, satellites are
further away from the atmosphere.
In terms of flight speed, the speed of birds and the speed of man-made
aircraft are also not on the same order of magnitude (as shown in Fig. 7.17).
Birds usually fly at speeds of a few tens of kilometers per hour, even the
fastest flying swift can only reach 170 km/h. The speed of man-made aircraft
far exceeds that of birds. The flight speed of civil airliners is 800–900 km/h,
the speed of modern supersonic fighters is more than 2000 km/h, and the