Aircraft Major Components Structure

Aircraft—A device that is used for flight in the air.

Airplane—An engine-driven, fixed-wing aircraft heavier than air that is supported in flight by the dynamic reaction of air against its wings.

FUSELAGE—The section of the airplane that consists of the cabin and/or cockpit, containing seats for the occupants and the controls for the airplane.

WINGS—Airfoils attached to each side of the fuselage and are the main lifting surfaces that support the airplane in flight.

EMPENNAGE—The section of the airplane that consists of the vertical stabilizer, the horizontal stabilizer, and the associated control surfaces.

CONVENTIONAL LANDING GEAR—Landing gear employing a third rear-mounted wheel. These airplanes are also sometimes referred to as tailwheel airplanes.

Nacelle—A streamlined enclosure on an aircraft in which an engine is mounted. On multiengine propeller-driven airplanes, the nacelle is normally mounted on the leading edge of the wing.

Biplane—An airplane that has two main airfoil surfaces or wings on each side of the fuselage, one placed above the other.

Airfoil—An airfoil is any surface, such as a wing, propeller, rudder, or even a trim tab, which provides aerodynamic force when it interacts with a moving stream of air.

Monoplane—An airplane that has only one main lifting surface or wing, usually divided into two parts by the fuselage.

Truss—A fuselage design made up of supporting structural members that resist deformation by applied loads.

Monocoque—A shell-like fuselage design in which the stressed outer skin is used to support the majority of imposed stresses. Monocoque fuselage design may include bulkheads but not stringers.

Semi-Monocoque—A fuselage design that includes a substructure of bulkheads and/or formers, along with stringers, to support flight loads and stresses imposed on the fuselage.