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Fixed-wing aircraft is the term used for what are more commonly known as aeroplanes in Commonwealth English, excluding Canada, or airplanes in North American English. Fixed-wing aircraft include monoplanes, biplanes and triplanes, and in fact all conventional aircraft that are neither balloons, airships, autogyros, helicopters or tiltrotors are fixed-wing aircraft. The term also embraces a minority of aircraft with folding wings, intended to fold on the ground to ease stowage or facilitate transport, and an even smaller number that can vary the sweep angle of their wings during flight, such as the General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark, Grumman F-14 Tomcat and Panavia Tornado, which were termed variable geometry aircraft. Sir George Cayley was building and flying models of fixed-wing aircraft as early as 1803 and built a successful passenger-carrying glider in 1853, but the first practical self-powered airplanes were designed and constructed by the Wright brothers, with successful test flights on December 17, 1903, and by 1904 the Flyer III was capable of fully controllable stable flight for substantial periods.

Fixed-wing aircraft is a term used to refer to what are more commonly known as aeroplanes in Commonwealth English (excluding Canada) or airplanes in North American English.

Fixed-wing aircraft include monoplanes, biplanes and triplanes; in fact all conventional aircraft that are neither balloons, airships, autogyros, helicopters or tiltrotors are fixed-wing aircraft.

The term embraces a minority of aircraft that have folding wings, intended to fold when on the ground, perhaps to ease stowage or facilitate transport on, for example, a vehicle trailer or the powered lift connecting the hangar deck of an aircraft carrier to its flight deck. It also embraces an even smaller number of aircraft, such as the General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark, Grumman F-14 Tomcat and the Panavia Tornado, which can vary the sweep angle of their wings during flight. In the early days of their development, these were termed "variable geometry" aircraft. When the wings of these aircraft are fully swept, usually for high speed cruise, the trailing edges of their wings abut the leading edges of their tailplanes, giving an impression of a single delta wing if viewed from above or below. There are also rare examples of aircraft which can vary the angle of incidence of their wings in flight, such the F-8 Crusader, which are also considered to be "fixed-wing".

Sir George Cayley, the inventor of the science of aerodynamics, was building and flying models of fixed wing aircraft as early as 1803, and he built a successful passenger-carrying glider in 1853, but it is known the first practical self-powered airplanes were designed and constructed by the Wright brothers. (Indeed, the German Karl Jatho had already constructed such 4 months earlier and made his first flight August 28, 1903 in Hanover.) Their first successful test flights were in December 17, 1903 and by 1904 the Flyer III was capable of fully-controllable stable flight for substantial periods. Strictly, its wings were not completely fixed, as it depended for stability on a flexing mechanism named wing warping. This was soon superseded by the competitive development of ailerons, attached to an otherwise rigid wing.

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The above article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/fixed-wing_aircraft). Definition modified by Apparel Search 6/4/05.

Planes as Freight Aircraft for Time-Sensitive Clothing

In shipping, the importance of the plane is speed. Air cargo uses fixed-wing aircraft to move goods that would lose value over a long sea or land journey, including fashion samples, urgent replenishment of a selling style, high-value garments and accessories, and documents or components needed to keep production moving. A sample that reaches a buyer in days rather than weeks can confirm an order in time for a selling season, and a small air shipment that restores sold-out sizes can be worth more than a larger, cheaper shipment that arrives after demand has passed. Those advantages are weighed against cost, because air freight is priced far more tightly by weight and volume than ocean freight, so apparel businesses usually reserve it for compact, valuable or genuinely urgent goods and send bulk seasonal stock by sea.

Cargo travels both in dedicated freighter aircraft and in the hold space of passenger aircraft, loaded in containers and on pallets shaped and restrained for the curved hold and for rapid loading. Careful packing matters more, not less, at speed: cartons must be labeled so a shipment can be transferred quickly between flights, and garments must be protected against compression and moisture during short but intensive handling. Used selectively, air transport gives a clothing supply chain a fast correction mechanism when forecasting, production or shipping by other modes has slipped.

Why Fixed Wings Define the Conventional Airplane

A fixed wing generates lift as the aircraft moves forward, and the rest of the conventional airplane, its fuselage, tail and controls, is organized around that steady lifting surface. Monoplanes carry one wing pair, biplanes two stacked pairs and triplanes three, arrangements that reflect different periods of structural design: multiple wings once gave strength with light materials, while later materials and engineering allowed the single wing to dominate. Ailerons, attached to an otherwise rigid wing, replaced the earlier wing warping system and gave pilots reliable roll control, a step that made practical, controllable flight repeatable rather than experimental.

The exceptions clarify the definition rather than weakening it. Folding wings still remain fixed in flight and fold only on the ground for stowage or transport, for example between the hangar deck of an aircraft carrier and its flight deck. Variable geometry aircraft can vary sweep in flight, with fully swept wings abutting the tailplanes to give the impression of a single delta wing at high speed, and rare aircraft such as the F-8 Crusader can vary the angle of incidence of the wing. Each case still centers on a wing that provides lift in a set position for each phase of flight, which is why all of them are counted as fixed-wing aircraft.

Common Questions

What kinds of aircraft count as fixed-wing aircraft?

Fixed-wing aircraft include monoplanes, biplanes and triplanes, and all conventional aircraft that are neither balloons, airships, autogyros, helicopters or tiltrotors. A minority have folding wings for stowage on the ground, and a smaller number can vary the sweep angle of their wings in flight.

When did the Wright brothers make their first successful flights?

Their first successful test flights were on December 17, 1903, and by 1904 the Flyer III was capable of fully controllable stable flight for substantial periods. Its wings were not completely fixed, as it depended on wing warping for stability, a mechanism soon superseded by ailerons on an otherwise rigid wing.

Who was Sir George Cayley in fixed-wing history?

Sir George Cayley, the inventor of the science of aerodynamics, was building and flying models of fixed-wing aircraft as early as 1803, and he built a successful passenger-carrying glider in 1853. His work preceded the first practical self-powered airplanes by a century.

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