Pressures Affecting and Airplane

How an airplane utilizes and deals with unwanted and wanted pressures

How does an airplane utilize pressures?



Pressure used for lift

As seen previously on the forces page, the airfoil of an airplanes wing utilizes low and high pressured air to provide the wings with s greater lift to drag ratio, thus allowing the aircraft to more efficiently take flight. This is a good example of how airplanes can utilize some air pressure to their advantage.

Picture of an Airfoil courtesy of skybrary.aero


Pressurization of airplane cabines

A common problem for airplanes flying at higher elevations is the de-pressurization of the cabin as air thins as the airplane climbs. This change in pressure for humans can present health complications, and to deal with this, engineers had to find a solution. In large turbine planes, some of the hot air that the turbine intakes is diverted into the cabin and used to artificially pressurize the cabin during flight. The picture below demonstrates a scenario where air is circulated around the airplane. Without proper pressurization, passengers are at risk of several ill affects such as hypoxia (lack of oxygen to the brain), altitude sickness, and decompression sickness, making cabin pressurization very important at high altitudes.


Picture courtesy of aviationnepal.com