Aeroplane

What is inside

• Body (fuselage). A long aluminium tube that carries people and keeps the air inside.
• Cabin. Where about 150–180 passengers sit, with galleys and toilets.
• Cockpit. Where two pilots fly the plane using screens, a side-stick and thrust levers.
• Wings. Shaped to push air down — so the air pushes the plane up. That’s lift.
• Flight controls. Moving flaps that make the plane climb, turn and slow down.
• Tail. Keeps the plane flying straight, like the feathers on an arrow.
• Jet engines. Turbofans that suck, squeeze, bang and blow air backwards — pushing the plane forward.
• Fuel. About 24,000 litres of jet fuel, mostly stored inside the wings.
• Landing gear. Wheels, brakes and shock absorbers that fold away after take-off.
• Luggage hold. Under the floor: containers full of suitcases, plus room for loose bags.
• Air & power. Machines that make electricity, fresh air and hydraulic muscle.

Stories in this thing

• How does a plane fly?. Four forces and a clever wing
• Take-off to landing. A whole flight, with the pilot’s every move
• Inside a jet engine. Suck, squeeze, bang, blow — the jet way
• How the pilot steers. Pitch, roll and yaw
• Inside the plane. Seats, galleys, cockpit and fresh air
• Your bag’s journey. From check-in to the belly of the plane

School topics it covers

• Forces
• Air pressure

How children use it

Pull it apart with one slider, tap any part to hear what it does, follow a short story read aloud, then answer a few questions. Every thing comes with experiments to try at home and study notes linked to the NCERT chapter it supports.

More things to open

• Family car — Follow one drop of petrol from the tank all the way to the wheels.
• Cruise ship — Why steel floats — and the secret crew corridor inside.
• Electricity — From the power station to your switch — and what happens when you flick it.
• Smartphone — Pull it apart into seven layers — the screen, the chip, the battery and the radios that carry your voice.
• Humanoid robot — Motor muscles, camera eyes and a computer brain.
• Living cell — The tiny factory you are made of — 30 trillion times over.