Even a perfectly flat-winged airplane can fly if it tilts its wings. The way a wing is tilted is the main thing that makes a plane fly, and not the wing’s shape. The angle of attack is the angle between the axis of the wing and the direction of incoming air.

elliptical wing

How does a flat wing generate any lift if both sides have the same air pressure? The two sides do not have the same pressure. A flat plane can still produce lift (think of putting a plate out of the window of a moving car, if you point it slightly upwards it will strongly push upwards, that’s lift).

An airfoil generates lift by exerting a downward force on the air as it flows past. According to Newton’s third law, the air must exert an equal and opposite (upward) force on the airfoil, which is lift. The airflow changes direction as it passes the airfoil and follows a path that is curved downward.

Techincally, there is only one way for the aircraft to remain hanging motionless in the air: if weight and lift cancel each other out perfectly, and at the same time thrust and drag cancel each other out too. But this is incredibly rare. To stay in the air and sustain its flight, an aircraft needs to be moving forward.

But one unlikely aviation side effect is the creation of a new world aviation record. On March 14, French airline Air Tahiti Nui flew the longest ever scheduled passenger flight by distance — transiting 9,765 miles across the world from Papeete, in Tahiti, French Polynesia, to Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport.

Boeing 747-8i

Yes, planes can fly over the North Pole. Many flights from North America to Europe and North America to Asia, and vice versa, cross the North Pole in an effort to cut flight time and save fuel. Flying over Antarctica is not illegal. Nonetheless, few commercial airliners do it.

Loganair Westray to

Loganair, a Scottish regional airline, holds that title thanks to its itinerary between Westray and Papa Westray, two of the Orkney Islands located north of Great Britain. The flight, which travels 1.7 miles (2.7 kilometers), lasts only 1.5 minutes in the air.