Fixed Wing

[roscoe]

"Fixed wing" or "small fixed wing" aircraft is a term that comes up in the news occasionally.

As opposed to a plane that flaps its wings like a bird?

Aren't most planes "fixed wing" ?

I know there are some planes on which the wings move, but aren't they the minority, especially in small planes?

And why make the distinction?

"Journalists" just grabbing a term they have heard ?

 

[bruceb58]

Aren't most planes "fixed wing" ?

Definition of an "airplane" is that it's a fixed wing aircraft. No one calls it a fixed wing airplane.
http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=fixed+wing+aircraft

A non fixed wing aircraft is typically a helicopter.

 

[roscoe]

So why not just call it an airplane?



The reason I wrote this:
"I know there are some planes on which the wings move"

is because I have seen planes with wings that retracted, rearward, as the planes went faster.

 

[redneck joe]

i want a plane with wings that flap. That would be cool.

 

[tpenfield]

As long as the wings are fixed . . . . rather than broken

 

[dingbat]

So why not just call it an airplane? Think



The reason I wrote this:
"I know there are some planes on which the wings move"

is because I have seen planes with wings that retracted, rearward, as the planes went faster.

Becouse there are "airplanes" that have rotary wings as well

 

[southkogs]

A helicopter is technically an airplane. On an airplane like a commercial jet or a private Cessna, the wings are "fixed" or stationary against the airframe. On an airplane like a helicopter, the wings are rotary against the airframe.

You also have other technical variants: swept wing (B-52) , variable swept wing (f14), delta wing (F-106) ... Some of which are also classified fixed wing.

When pilots talk, generally the delineation is between fixed wings (anything that isn't a helicopter) and rotary wing (anything that is a helicopter).

For added fun, the military helicopter pilots typically refer to their birds as "ships." (At least the bulk of 'em that I interact with)

 

[redneck joe]

but no flapping wings?

:grumpy:

 

[GA_Boater]

but no flapping wings?

:grumpy:

Sure RNJ - Google ornithopter. Man has dreamed of flying like a bird since the beginning of time. Here is a good starting place.

 

[bekosh]

but no flapping wings?

:grumpy:

You can find a few in this video. But they don't seem to work so well. :laugh::rofl:

 

[GA_Boater]

I was looking for that vid, bekosh, but fell short. The bed with the rotating umbrella had promise.

 

[redneck joe]

hold my beer....

 

[southkogs]

I wish I could find Jonathan Winters doing Maude Frickert as the world's oldest airline stewardess. The bit about her brother scotch taping pigeons to his arms to fly is a riot.

 

[roscoe]

I guess I've never heard a helicopter called a rotary winged aircraft.
I've always heard them called helicopters, or choppers, or helos.
I've never heard the rotors called wings either.

So now I have learned something.

I wonder if the "journalists" that use the term, know what it means.

 

[aspeck]

probably not ...:facepalm:

 

[waterinthefuel]

Yep, what everyone else said was right.

Rotary wing aircraft are helicopters. I know like in corporate aviation, for a company like PHI that has airplanes and helicopters, to distinguish which one you're discussing you'll say "rotary wing" or "fixed wing" division. Fixed wing is airplanes. Everything else isn't.

A helicopters rotor blade is simply a wing.

 

[kenmyfam]

I'll take the wings that are firmly attached to the sides of the aircraft

 

[Illinoid]

Technically Helicopters don't fly, they just beat the air into submission or so I was told by a Marine aviation mechanic.

 

[southkogs]

^^^^ LOL: I went glider flying last week, and had to mentally get over that hump of watching the wings be put on. "FIRMLY ATTACHED" became quite a consideration.

 

[redneck joe]

^^^^^^^^this is why I drink when I fly.. All of the above.