Aircraft

Aircraft actually falls into two categories, those that are lighten than air are called 'aerostats' and those that are heavier than air are known as 'aerodynes'. Unsurprisingly, both of these work in a different way. Aerostats float in the air using buoyancy in a similar way to how ships float on water. Aerodynes have to remain airborne by pushing air downwards. An example of a aerostat would be a hot air balloon and a good example of a aerodyne is (rather obviously maybe!) a plane.

passengers

Aeroplanes are actually called 'fixed wing aircraft' and it is surprising to note that the smallest version of this is actually the humble kite, which was invented in china in approximately 500BC. A rotorcraft has a spinning rotor on top of the craft (e.g. helicopter) and spinning blades which is uses to propel it through the air.

We are nearly all familiar with aircraft and air travel and there are two main categories that these fall under: military and commercial aircraft. The aircraft that post people would recognise in the commercial category is the Boeing 747 (simply called Boeing in the US). It was the first 'wide body' type of plane introduced onto the commercial market and was a lot larger than anything seen before. It was first introduced in approximately 1970 when it flew of PamAm airlines in America. It has mainly been used by British Airways, Japan Airlines and Korean Air to name a few.

Helicopters are very distinctive and widely recognised aircraft. They have a horizontal propeller and, as mentioned above, are classed as Rotorcraft.