DO YOU KNOW AIRPLANES?

Types of Airplanes
By Leo

Modern airplanes are divided into five main types:
1. Commercial Transport Planes
2. General Aviation Planes
3. Military Planes
4. Sea Planes
5. Special Purpose Planes

Commercial transport planes are large planes used for carrying passengers and sometimes cargo (also called airliners).

Four-engine jets are more powerful than most airliners. That’s because most airliners only travel 500 to 600 miles per hour or 805 to 966 kilometers per hour, and four-engine jets can travel faster and farther.

The Boeing 747 is a four-engine jet that unlike most airliners, can carry
1. 1,000 passengers
2. Less than 200 passengers
3. More than 400 passengers
4. 50 passengers

It can also carry six galleys (kitchens), twelve washrooms, and more than 47,000 gallons or 178,000 liters of fuel. In 1969, the Boeing 747 became the largest jet in the world. This airliner can fly 6,495 miles or 10,475 kilometers non-stop. That’s farther than the distance between New York City and Tokyo.

Four-engine jets are not the only kind of commercial transport planes. There are also three-engine jets and twin-engine jets.

As you probably can imagine, three-engine jets don’t travel as far as four-engine jets and need less runway to take-off and land. But some three-engine jets can carry as many passengers as four-engine jets.

Twin-engine jets are smaller than four or three-engine jets, but 90% of airliners today are twin-engine jets. Here’s a question for you:

Why do you think twin-engine jets are used the most?
1. Because they have less engine failures than three or four-engine jets
2. Because they cost less money to operate
3. Because people like the way they look

Now let’s learn a little bit about general aviation planes. Most general aviation planes have two to six seats, and one engine. General aviation planes are used for many purposes. Sometimes people use them to teach students how to fly a plane, or they are used to take pictures from a high-up view. Sometimes people use them for transportation, and sometimes people use them for enjoyment. Some farmers use them for planting seeds, checking soil erosion, and counting livestock.

Military planes, as you probably know, are planes used by the military. Most military planes are used to attack enemies on the ground or in the air. Some military planes are used to carry equipment and soldiers to bases or battlefields.

Sea planes are divided into three types:
1. Float Planes
2. Flying Boats
3. Amphibians

Float planes have big floats instead of wheels. Flying boats are shaped like the hull of a boat, so they can stay on the water. Amphibians are:
1. Shaped like frogs
2. Able to go on land and water
3. Able to fly without any wings

Special purpose planes are planes that have special purposes such as performing tricks in shows or spraying chemicals on crops. Some amphibians also have a special purpose. They are used for putting out forest fires. They fly just above the lakes and ponds and suck up water so they can later spray it on forest fires.

So, there are a lot of different types of airplanes, and as we have learned, it’s because there are a lot of different jobs for airplanes to do.

Source: http://library.thinkquest.org/04oct/00450/typesofairplanes.htm