Category Science

Who were the first people to fly?

The first people to make a proper flight were two Frenchmen, Francois Pilatre de Rozier and the Marquis D’Arlandes. On 21 November, 1783 they flew for 25 minutes over Paris in a hot-air balloon made by the Montgolfier brothers.

Who built a steam plane?

The first aeroplane to leave the ground was the steam-powered Eole. It was built by French aviator Clement Ader, and had bat-like wings. It only flew for about 50 metres in 1890, and could not be steered!

Amazing! In the 14th century Chinese merchants launched kites with people tied to them to see if it was windy enough to set sail in their ships. If the kite failed to fly, they stayed in port until another day. This fact was reported by the famous European traveller Marco Polo.

Who flew the first gliders?

The first person to build and fly gliders was the German engineer Otto Lilienthal. He made hundreds of flights, starting in 1891. Lilienthal launched himself from hills, and hung under his gliders. He was killed in a glider crash in 1896.

Is it true? People flew by flapping their arms.

No. For hundreds of years people attempted to fly by strapping wings to their arms and flapping them. They became known as ‘birdmen’, and many were injured or killed, after they launched themselves from high buildings or cliffs. For humans, flying like birds is impossible because we do not have shoulder muscles which are strong enough for flapping.

Picture Credit : Google

Who made the first aeroplane flight?

The first person to make a controlled flight in an aeroplane with an engine was Orville Wright. His flight took place in the aeroplane Flyer on 17 December, 1903 at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, USA. The flight lasted just 12 seconds and was 36.5 metres long. Flyer was a biplane built by Orville and his brother Wilbur, who were bicycle makers.

Amazing! In 1914, the fastest aircraft were slower than the fastest racing cars. The world speed record for aircraft was just over 204 kilometres per hour, but the world land-speed record was 226 kilometres per hour. By 1920, aircraft had overtaken.

What is a monoplane?

A monoplane is an aeroplane with one pair of wings. Most early aeroplanes were biplanes, with two sets of wings. The graceful Antoinette VII of 1908 was one of the first monoplanes to fly.

Is it true? One plane had 20 wings.

Yes. In 1904 Englishman Horatio Phillips built a plane with 20 small wings one above the other. It was a complete failure. In 1907 he built a plane with no less than 200 wings!

Who was first to fly across the English Channel?

The first cross-channel flight was made by Frenchman Louis Bleriot in 1909. He made the trip in one of his own aeroplanes, a Bleriot number XI monoplane. It took just 37 minutes to fly from France to England. Bleriot won a prize of £1,000.

Picture Credit : Google

What needs a ramp to unload?

Tipper trucks have a lifting body that tips up to make a load slide out. Sometimes whole trucks are tipped up by a ramp instead! This truck is unloading grain into a grain store.

Which truck tows aircraft?

Airport tugs pull aircraft around when the aircraft cannot use their engines. The tug has a tow bar that attaches to an aircraft’s front wheel. Its low body doesn’t bump into the fuselage.

Is it true? Cherry pickers are used to pick fruit.

No. Cherry picker is the nickname for a truck with a working platform on the end of an extending arm. A worker on the platform can do jobs such as changing bulbs in street lamps.

Which trucks carry rubbish?

Garbage trucks drive around collecting rubbish. A mechanism lifts garbage bins, turns them upside down and shakes them to empty their contents into the truck. Then a powerful ram crushes the rubbish and squeezes it into the truck.

Picture Credit : Google

What is a wrecker?

A wrecker is a recovery truck that tows away cars, buses and other vehicles that are wrecked in accidents, often blocking roads or lying in ditches. Wreckers need powerful diesel engines for towing and a winch for pulling vehicles that have tipped over back on to their wheels.

Amazing! Some cargo trucks carry a mini fork-lift truck with them for loading and unloading cargo. The fork-lift folds up and is carried attached to the back of the main truck.

Which truck saves lives?

An ambulance is a small truck specially adapted to carry injured and sick people quickly to hospital. There are stretchers for patients and emergency medical equipment in the back of the ambulance.

Is it true? Hospitals have wheels.

Yes. Mobile hospitals are mini hospitals inside a converted truck. They work in remote areas where people cannot get hospital treatment, and carry doctors, nurses and even an operating theatre.

Picture Credit : Google

Which fire truck has two drivers?

 Some fire trucks carry ladders so long that the ladder needs its own extra-long trailer. A second driver in a rear cab turns the rear wheels of the trailer so that the truck can get round sharp corners to reach fires in narrow streets.

Amazing! Water is pumped along fire hoses by a powerful pump in a fire truck. It comes out of the hose nozzle so quickly that the fire fighter holding the nozzle can be lifted off the ground.

Is it true? Fire engines need stabilisers.

Yes. Fire engines with long ladders could topple over if the ladder was fully extended to the side. So they have two stabilisers on each side.

How far can a fire truck’s ladder reach?

Some fire trucks have telescopic ladders which are more than 40 metres long when fully extended. That’s long enough to reach the eleventh floor of a building.

Who puts aircraft fires out?

Airports have their own teams of fire fighters who use fleets of special fire trucks. The trucks fight fires with foam instead of water. The foam is fired from cannon on top of the fire truck and smothers any fuel which is alight.

Picture Credit : Google

What are chains used for?

Strong metal chains called snow chains stop trucks skidding on icy or snow-covered roads. The chains are wrapped around all the truck’s tyres and cut into the ice or snow, gripping it tightly. In cold countries, truck drivers always carry snow chains with them.

Amazing! Some farm tractors have huge double sets of wheels to stop them from churning up the soil. In very muddy ground, normal tractors sink into the mud. Double wheels spread the tractor’s weight over a bigger area to stop it sinking.

Which trucks race across the Sahara?

Trucks compete in many rallies, including the famous Paris-Dakar Rally that crosses the Sahara Desert in northern Africa. More trucks carry spares and mechanics for other competitors, who race in cars and on motorbikes.

What is four-wheel drive?

When a truck has four-wheel drive, it means that the engine makes all the wheels turn. In some trucks, the engine only turns two of the wheels. Four-wheel drive is good for driving off-road on muddy tracks.

Picture Credit : Google