As a pilot, I often get asked many questions about airplanes and what they are; I happily obey the desires of their little hearts for their thirst for knowledge about aviation. What does this do? How does this work? What is this thing? People are quite curious about the parts of an airplane. An airplane can be broken down into four simple categories: the fuselage, wings, empennage (tail), and engine. The fuselage, the part to which all other parts of the aircraft are usually attached, contains the most important material. , passengers and pilots. This is the equivalent of the car body/chassis, and is easily recognizable because this is where the windows are located. At the front of the fuselage is the cockpit where the amazing pilots make their flights and fly the plane. It also contains special points where the wings are attached. Underneath the fuselage is where the landing gear attaches. This is what typically retracts into the body of the plane and lowers for landings where the plane can rest on. The fuselage is a simple, simple part of an aircraft. What is the most recognizable part of an airplane? The wings are undoubtedly the iconic part of an airplane. That's what makes them fly! The wings have control surfaces on themselves to help steer the plane. Inside the wings, usually about ¼ to ½ the length of the wing at the tip, are separate, hinged wing pieces that move up and down, called ailerons. The left and right ailerons move in opposite directions to momentarily change the direction of lift. This brief change in lift allows the plane to bank and change direction. Newer, more modern airplane wings have what are called winglets. Winglets, an upwardly curved end of the wing, lower the wingtip...... middle of paper...... rotated by pistons, it is powered by a combustion process using the turbine exhaust to turn the propeller instead, hence the term turboprop. A turbofan is what you will find on all business jets and private airliners. Instead of spinning a propeller, turbofan engines use the exhaust to spin a fan, which helps produce more thrust by creating bypass air. Military aircraft such as the F-22 Raptor use the regular jet engine which produces thrust by, in simple terms, lighting the jet fuel on fire and pushing it backwards. Regardless of the engine type, they are all important parts of an aircraft. The fuselage, wings, tail, and engines all make up the parts of an airplane. They are all important to the well-being of an aircraft in flight; they are all parts; without it, the plane could not fly. The next time you see an airplane, you can impress anyone with your new knowledge about airplanes..