Hello, from Iowa! Now, a stupid question...

What is an AIRPLANE anyway?

Here is what my dictionary says:

AIRPLANE Definition & Usage Examples | Dictionary.com

noun


a heavier-than-air aircraft kept aloft by the upward thrust exerted by the passing air on its fixed wings and driven by propellers, jet propulsion, etc.

b any similar heavier-than-air aircraft, as a glider or helicopter.


What troubles me is including HELICOPTER or GLIDER within the definition. I was in an army attack helicopter unit back in the 1990's and was curious even then as to why personnel in that unit sometimes referred to choppers as AIRPLANES.

Whenever somebody utters AIRPLANE in my ears, only fixed-wing self-powered flying machines come to mind.

Also, how did the term AIRPLANE even come into existence? Why did the inventors choose this term? The word has Latin and Greek roots. What do the meaning of the root words in AIRPLANE actually have to do with how this self-powered fixed-wing aerodyne actually operates?

I suspect it's because the wings themselves were once referred to as "planes". You see it in old writings from the early part of the 20th century. It's where the term "monoplane" and "biplane" come from.

My OCD self also insists on calling helicopters and that ilk airCRAFT, not airplanes.

Ron Wanttaja

I will insist myself for the term AIRPLANE or PLANE to be restricted to something with one or more engines and fixed wings.


The PLANE part of AIRPLANE either comes from Latin, planus, flat, level or Greek, planos, wandering. Certainly, an airplane wandered, at least historically, through the air. Or at least it once did wander until good navigation techniques and instruments were developed to keep the bird on a prescribed course. PLANOS is related to PLANET, astronomical bodies that wander about the sun. The flat and level part might have to do with the shape of an airplane's wings.

If you keep in mind that faster boats will "plane" you can say that the fixed-wing aircraft "planes" through the air, in much the same was as a boat on water. Getting nitpicky you could also say that about helicopter blades. As far as gliders/sailplanes, they (IMHO) are just a specialized airplane, as are ultralights, hang gliders, etc., but the common references are generally needed to clarify what you are actually discussing.

Quote:

---

My OCD self also insists on calling helicopters and that ilk airCRAFT, not airplanes.

---

My tendencies match that...

From dictionary.com:

Quote:

---

noun

1. a flat or level surface.
2. Geometry. a surface generated by a straight line moving at a constant velocity with respect to a fixed point.
3. Fine Arts. an area of a two-dimensional surface having determinate extension and spatial direction or position: oblique plane; horizontal plane.
4. a level of dignity, character, existence, development, or the like: a high moral plane.
5. Aeronautics.
   
   1. an airplane or a hydroplane: to take a plane to Dallas.
   2. a thin, flat or curved, extended section of an airplane or a hydroplane, affording a supporting surface.
   
   
6. Architecture. a longitudinal section through the axis of a column.

adjective

1. flat or level, as a surface.
2. of or relating to planes or plane figures.

verb (used without object),planed, plan·ing.

1. to glide or soar.
2. (of a boat) to rise partly out of the water when moving at high speed.

---

I've worked in Army Aviation for over 30 years. We've always referred to our aircraft/helicopters as "airplanes" for whatever reason. "Hey what airplane are you flying tomorrow, 164 or 326?" " You hear about that accident, what airplane was it?" It was always airplane or aircraft, never helicopter, interestingly enough. Might be an Army thing.

Don't know why, it's just always been that way. I've been a PP ASEL since before I started this gig, but it doesn't bother me anymore.

Also, aircraft can move horizontally around an elevated plane (an "air" plane, as opposed to the ground plane).