Aerodynamics
Lift is not Bernoulli
Wings work because they deflect a mass of air downward. Newton's 3rd law: equal and opposite reaction pushes the wing up. Bernoulli explains the pressure distribution, not the cause.
- L/D cruise
- ~19
- Airliner CL
- ~0.5
Airplane Lab · 12 real aircraft
Assemble the aircraft. Rotate & climb.
Wings, turbofans, fly-by-wire, radar and gear — from the Wright Flyer to the F-35 and Joby eVTOL. Snap the real parts together, then take the runway.
Hangar
Parts Bay
Boeing 747-8
Iconic hump. 4 GEnx-2B turbofans, 76 t thrust. Range 14,000 km with 467 pax.
0/12
Missing: Fuselage, Wings, Turbofan / Prop, Landing Gear, Avionics + FMS, Flight Controls, Fuel Tanks, Horizontal Stab, Vertical Stab, Payload Cabin, Radar / Sensors, Glass Cockpit
RWY 27L · Boeing 747-8 · STANDBY
Assembly
Ready: 12 missing
How real aircraft actually fly
Propulsion
High-bypass turbofan
A modern airliner engine (LEAP-1A, Trent XWB) is basically a giant ducted fan spun by a small core. Bypass ratio 10-12 means 90% of the thrust bypasses the combustor entirely — quieter and 15% more efficient.
- BPR
- 10-12
- TSFC cruise
- 0.5 lb/h/lbf
Structures
The 787 composite bet
The 787's fuselage is one-piece carbon composite instead of riveted aluminum. Lower weight, no corrosion, higher cabin pressure and humidity — better for pax on long flights.
- CFRP mass
- 50%
- Cabin alt
- 6000 ft
Fly-by-wire
Envelope protection
Airbus fly-by-wire prevents the pilot from exceeding structural G limits, stall AoA, or overspeed. The stick issues a demand; the FCC decides what the surface actually does.
- Buses
- AFDX / ARINC
Supersonic
Why the SR-71 leaked on the ground
The airframe was designed to seal only after thermal expansion at Mach 3. Cold on the ramp = fuel puddles under the aircraft. That's engineering to the flight condition.
- Max Mach
- 3.3+
- Skin T
- ~500 °C
Stealth
RCS is geometry first
F-22's radar cross-section (~0.0001 m²) comes 80% from faceted geometry and edge alignment, 20% from radar-absorbent materials. RAM is the polish, shape is the trick.
- F-22 RCS
- ~0.0001 m²
- 747 RCS
- ~100 m²
eVTOL
Tilt to transition
Joby's 6 rotors tilt from vertical (hover) to horizontal (cruise), turning the same motors into props. Battery energy density (~250 Wh/kg) still caps range to ~150 mi.
- Range
- ~150 mi
- Cruise
- 150 mph
Certification
Type certificates take a decade
A clean-sheet airliner needs ~$15B and 10 years to reach EASA/FAA type certification. Thousands of test hours, fatigue rigs, bird strikes, iced airfoils, engine fan-blade-outs.
Autoland
CAT IIIc: land in zero visibility
Fully autonomous landing to touchdown requires triplex autopilots, ILS glide slope + localizer, radio altimeter, and a certified runway. Widebodies routinely do this in fog.
Open sources only. Content is synthesised from open, public materials: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), FAA type certificates and airworthiness directives (US public domain), NASA technical reports (US public domain), EASA materials (free-use with credit / under their open terms), and manufacturers' own public press & spec sheets. No proprietary drawings, CAD or internal documents are redistributed.
Trademarks. Boeing, Airbus, Lockheed Martin, Cessna, Cirrus, Joby and all other product / company names are trademarks of their respective owners, mentioned only as editorial and educational references (nominative fair use). This site is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any of them.