{"id":18696,"date":"2018-07-26T01:16:06","date_gmt":"2018-07-26T01:16:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/?p=18696"},"modified":"2026-03-13T16:09:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T16:09:16","slug":"science-dr-karl-planes-fly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/science\/general-science\/science-dr-karl-planes-fly\/","title":{"rendered":"Science with Dr Karl: How aeroplanes fly!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Planes! Have you ever watched an <strong>aeroplane<\/strong> fly over and wondered how it can soar through the clouds so effortlessly?<\/p>\n<p>I always feel amazed when I see that <strong>giant double-decker plane<\/strong>, the incredible <strong>A-380<\/strong>. It weighs nearly <strong>600 tonnes<\/strong> \u2013 as much as a small ship \u2013 and yet it can <strong><em>fly<\/em><\/strong>!<\/p>\n<p>So, how does it manage it? Well, a plane\u2019s <strong>wing<\/strong> is basically an \u2018<strong>air deflector<\/strong>\u2019 \u2013 which means that the wing <strong>pushes air down<\/strong> and, in return, <strong>the air pushes the wing up<\/strong>. So, the A-380 can stay <strong>12,000m above Earth<\/strong> because it is constantly <strong>pushing air down<\/strong>. This is called \u2018<strong>lift<\/strong>,\u2019 one of four things a plane needs to fly.<\/p>\n<p>Think of a tiny plane, such as the single-engine, four-seater <strong>Cessna 172<\/strong>. It weighs just over a tonne (that\u2019s <em>one 600th<\/em> the size of the A-380!). When it\u2019s flying at <strong>220kmph<\/strong>, its wings are pushing about f<strong>ive tonnes of air per second down towards the ground<\/strong>. The A-380 needs to push down <strong><em>a lot<\/em> more air t<\/strong>han that to stay in the sky, because it&#8217;s heavier!<\/p>\n<p>Imagine you\u2019re in a swimming pool, and you\u2019re moving a table tennis paddle horizontally through the water. Now, if you tilt the paddle <strong>upwards<\/strong> a little at the front as you move it along, the paddle tries to <strong>rise towards the surface<\/strong>. This is the same effect that the air has on a plane\u2019s wing.<\/p>\n<p>On large passenger jets (like ones you might have travelled in on a holiday), the wings are joined onto the plane\u2019s long body at an <strong>angle of about 5-10 degrees<\/strong>, tilting <strong>upwards<\/strong> at the front. Just like the paddle, this causes the plane to <strong>rise up<\/strong> (and stay up) in the sky.<\/p>\n<p>The three other elements needed for a plane to fly are <strong>weight<\/strong>, <strong>thrust<\/strong> and <strong>drag<\/strong>. The plane stays <strong>balanced<\/strong> in-flight because of <strong>how the weight is distributed<\/strong> \u2013 you don\u2019t want the plane to be nose-heavy or tail-heavy!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Thrust<\/strong> is the <strong>force<\/strong> that moves the plane <strong>forward<\/strong>. <strong>Propellers<\/strong> or <strong>jet engines<\/strong> produce the thrust, just like a (smaller!) engine propels a car forward. <strong>Drag<\/strong> <em>slows<\/em> the plane. You can feel drag when you walk against a strong wind. Planes are designed to let air pass around them with minimal drag, so that they can travel forwards with ease.<\/p>\n<p>A plane flies when all four forces \u2013 <strong>lift<\/strong>, <strong>weight<\/strong>, <strong>thrust<\/strong> and <strong>drag<\/strong> \u2013 work together.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Wow! Have you ever been on an aeroplane? Tell us your experiences in the comments below.<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Planes! Have you ever watched an aeroplane fly over and wondered how it can soar through the clouds so effortlessly? I always feel amazed when I see that giant double-decker plane, the incredible A-380. It weighs nearly 600 tonnes \u2013 as much as a small ship \u2013 and yet it can fly! So, how does &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/science\/general-science\/science-dr-karl-planes-fly\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Science with Dr Karl: How aeroplanes fly!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":18697,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1958,1922,2203,2345,2224,1979,2344,947],"christmas-category":[],"class_list":["post-18696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-science","tag-aeroplane","tag-dr-karl","tag-flight","tag-fly","tag-gravity","tag-physics","tag-planes","tag-science","countries-australia","countries-new-zealand"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How aeroplanes fly | National Geographic Kids<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ever watched an aeroplane fly over and wondered how it can soar so effortlessly? We find out the science behind it...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18696\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How aeroplanes fly | National Geographic Kids\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ever watched an aeroplane fly over and wondered how it can soar so effortlessly? We find out the science behind it...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/science\/general-science\/science-dr-karl-planes-fly\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"National Geographic Kids\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ngkids\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-07-26T01:16:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-13T16:09:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.creatureandcoagency.com\/uploads\/2018\/07\/drkarl_planesfly_feature.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"635\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"404\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gemma Chandler\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@NGKidsUK\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@NGKidsUK\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gemma Chandler\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/discover\\\/science\\\/general-science\\\/science-dr-karl-planes-fly\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/discover\\\/science\\\/general-science\\\/science-dr-karl-planes-fly\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Gemma Chandler\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/195f18ea012555b4e0786f55a65c617e\"},\"headline\":\"Science with Dr Karl: How aeroplanes fly!\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-07-26T01:16:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-13T16:09:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/discover\\\/science\\\/general-science\\\/science-dr-karl-planes-fly\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":424,\"commentCount\":11,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/discover\\\/science\\\/general-science\\\/science-dr-karl-planes-fly\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn.creatureandcoagency.com\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/07\\\/drkarl_planesfly_feature.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"aeroplane\",\"dr karl\",\"flight\",\"fly\",\"gravity\",\"physics\",\"planes\",\"science\"],\"articleSection\":[\"General Science\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/discover\\\/science\\\/general-science\\\/science-dr-karl-planes-fly\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/discover\\\/science\\\/general-science\\\/science-dr-karl-planes-fly\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/discover\\\/science\\\/general-science\\\/science-dr-karl-planes-fly\\\/\",\"name\":\"How aeroplanes fly | National Geographic Kids\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/discover\\\/science\\\/general-science\\\/science-dr-karl-planes-fly\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/discover\\\/science\\\/general-science\\\/science-dr-karl-planes-fly\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn.creatureandcoagency.com\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/07\\\/drkarl_planesfly_feature.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-07-26T01:16:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-13T16:09:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/195f18ea012555b4e0786f55a65c617e\"},\"description\":\"Ever watched an aeroplane fly over and wondered how it can soar so effortlessly? We find out the science behind it...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/discover\\\/science\\\/general-science\\\/science-dr-karl-planes-fly\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/discover\\\/science\\\/general-science\\\/science-dr-karl-planes-fly\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/discover\\\/science\\\/general-science\\\/science-dr-karl-planes-fly\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn.creatureandcoagency.com\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/07\\\/drkarl_planesfly_feature.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn.creatureandcoagency.com\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/07\\\/drkarl_planesfly_feature.jpg\",\"width\":635,\"height\":404,\"caption\":\"planes\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/discover\\\/science\\\/general-science\\\/science-dr-karl-planes-fly\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Science with Dr Karl: How aeroplanes fly!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/\",\"name\":\"National Geographic Kids\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/195f18ea012555b4e0786f55a65c617e\",\"name\":\"Gemma Chandler\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/09764bf2066686d3c6812bacedec0e57c53560f041d853472e8c587403ef2b4f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/09764bf2066686d3c6812bacedec0e57c53560f041d853472e8c587403ef2b4f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/09764bf2066686d3c6812bacedec0e57c53560f041d853472e8c587403ef2b4f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Gemma Chandler\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.natgeokids.com\\\/uk\\\/author\\\/gemmachandler\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How aeroplanes fly | National Geographic Kids","description":"Ever watched an aeroplane fly over and wondered how it can soar so effortlessly? We find out the science behind it...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18696","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"How aeroplanes fly | National Geographic Kids","og_description":"Ever watched an aeroplane fly over and wondered how it can soar so effortlessly? We find out the science behind it...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/science\/general-science\/science-dr-karl-planes-fly\/","og_site_name":"National Geographic Kids","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ngkids\/","article_published_time":"2018-07-26T01:16:06+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-13T16:09:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":635,"height":404,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.creatureandcoagency.com\/uploads\/2018\/07\/drkarl_planesfly_feature.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Gemma Chandler","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@NGKidsUK","twitter_site":"@NGKidsUK","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Gemma Chandler","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/science\/general-science\/science-dr-karl-planes-fly\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/science\/general-science\/science-dr-karl-planes-fly\/"},"author":{"name":"Gemma Chandler","@id":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/#\/schema\/person\/195f18ea012555b4e0786f55a65c617e"},"headline":"Science with Dr Karl: How aeroplanes fly!","datePublished":"2018-07-26T01:16:06+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-13T16:09:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/science\/general-science\/science-dr-karl-planes-fly\/"},"wordCount":424,"commentCount":11,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/science\/general-science\/science-dr-karl-planes-fly\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.creatureandcoagency.com\/uploads\/2018\/07\/drkarl_planesfly_feature.jpg","keywords":["aeroplane","dr karl","flight","fly","gravity","physics","planes","science"],"articleSection":["General Science"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/science\/general-science\/science-dr-karl-planes-fly\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/science\/general-science\/science-dr-karl-planes-fly\/","url":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/science\/general-science\/science-dr-karl-planes-fly\/","name":"How aeroplanes fly | National Geographic Kids","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/science\/general-science\/science-dr-karl-planes-fly\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/science\/general-science\/science-dr-karl-planes-fly\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.creatureandcoagency.com\/uploads\/2018\/07\/drkarl_planesfly_feature.jpg","datePublished":"2018-07-26T01:16:06+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-13T16:09:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/#\/schema\/person\/195f18ea012555b4e0786f55a65c617e"},"description":"Ever watched an aeroplane fly over and wondered how it can soar so effortlessly? We find out the science behind it...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/science\/general-science\/science-dr-karl-planes-fly\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/science\/general-science\/science-dr-karl-planes-fly\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/science\/general-science\/science-dr-karl-planes-fly\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cdn.creatureandcoagency.com\/uploads\/2018\/07\/drkarl_planesfly_feature.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.creatureandcoagency.com\/uploads\/2018\/07\/drkarl_planesfly_feature.jpg","width":635,"height":404,"caption":"planes"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/discover\/science\/general-science\/science-dr-karl-planes-fly\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Science with Dr Karl: How aeroplanes fly!"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/","name":"National Geographic Kids","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/#\/schema\/person\/195f18ea012555b4e0786f55a65c617e","name":"Gemma Chandler","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/09764bf2066686d3c6812bacedec0e57c53560f041d853472e8c587403ef2b4f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/09764bf2066686d3c6812bacedec0e57c53560f041d853472e8c587403ef2b4f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/09764bf2066686d3c6812bacedec0e57c53560f041d853472e8c587403ef2b4f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Gemma Chandler"},"url":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/author\/gemmachandler\/"}]}},"wps_subtitle":"Explore the astonishing forces that keep aeroplanes in the sky...","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18696\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18696"},{"taxonomy":"christmas-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.natgeokids.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/christmas-category?post=18696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}