Category Transport

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.

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.

 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.

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.

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A type of digger called a backhoe loader can dig, load and drill. At the back is a digger arm with a bucket called a backhoe. At the front is a shovel for picking up loose soil and rock. Different sized buckets or a pneumatic drill can be attached to the backhoe.

Is it true? Some trucks have bullet-proof glass.

Yes. Demolition machines have extra-strong, bullet-proof glass in their cabs. The glass stops falling masonry crashing into the cab and hurting the driver.

Amazing! There are mini digging machines as well as big ones. Mini machines are used where large machines can’t go, such as in basements, and for digging small trenches in pavements and gardens.

Which trucks can reach high up?

A mobile crane is a truck with a crane on its back. Mobiles cranes work on construction sites, lifting heavy objects such as steel girders into place with their telescopic arms. There is a cab at the back for the driver who operates the crane.

How is concrete delivered?

Concrete is carried to building sites in cement mixers. The ingredients are put in the mixer’s drum, which rotates, mixing the concrete.

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A monster truck is an ordinary pick-up truck fitted with huge dump-truck wheels, extra-strong suspension and a very powerful engine. Monster truck owners race their trucks over tracks with huge bumps and jumps. The trucks bounce about and even tip over if they go too quickly.

Is it true? Monster trucks drive over cars.

Yes. In monster truck racing, some of the obstacles that the trucks drive over are old cars! The cars get crushed flat under the trucks’ massive wheels.

Amazing! One of most famous American monster trucks is called Grave Digger. It has an amazing custom paint job, with scenes of graveyards all over its bodywork!

Who paints trucks for protection?

 In countries such as Afghanistan and India, truck drivers paint their trucks with bright colours and religious symbols. They believe that the symbols will stop them from having accidents.

What are customised trucks?

Customised trucks have special parts such as huge wheels, high suspensions and big engines. Some even have boots, bonnets and doors moved by hydraulic rams. Custom trucks are built specially for shows and races.

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Tanks are good at driving across rough, muddy ground, but they’re quite slow. When tanks need to move quickly, they’re carried on special tank transporters. The transporter’s trailer needs lots of wheels to spread out the huge weight of the tank.

Which trucks can swim?

Armies transport equipment in amphibious trucks that can drive on land like a normal truck and float across water like a boat. Amphibious trucks have a waterproof underside to stop water flooding the engine.

Amazing! Some trucks have armour plating on the outside. They’re called armoured personnel carriers (APCs for short). They’re used to carry troops on battlefields.

What carries missiles?

Missile-carrying trucks transport huge nuclear missiles. On board the truck is a launch pad and a control centre for launching the missile. The trucks carry the missiles into the countryside if their base is threatened by enemy attack.

Is it true? Some trucks have caterpillar tracks.

Yes. A type of truck called a half-track has wheels at the front and caterpillar tracks at the rear. Armies often transport their troops in half-tracks.

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In the 19th century, the first powered trucks had steam engines, before petrol engines and diesel engines were invented. They looked like the steam tractors used on farms.

Amazing! The first ever steam-powered vehicle was destroyed in a crash. The three-wheeled carriage was built by French engineer Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot in 1769, and was supposed to pull artillery guns.

What did trucks look like before steam engines were invented?

Before steam engines were invented, cargo was moved in wagons pulled by animals such as oxen or horses. This is why the first powered trucks and cars were called ‘horseless’ carriages.

Is it true? Early buses were pulled by steam tractors.

Yes. A steam tractor was a steam-powered vehicle designed for towing wagons. The first passenger-carrying buses were made up of a wagon with several seats inside, pulled by a steam tractor.

What was a charabanc?

A charabanc was a flat-bodied truck with benches in the back for passengers to sit on. Factory workers and their families travelled in charabancs on days out to the seaside or to the city. The first charabancs were pulled by teams of horses.

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A jack-knife happens when a truck driver tries to stop, but the trailer slides sideways, out of control. A jack-knife is very dangerous – the trailer might turn over. It is named after a Knife with a folding blade.

How do truck drivers talk to each other?

Truck drivers talk to each other on citizens’ band (C.B) radios. They warn each other about traffic jams or bad weather. Drivers use nicknames called handles instead of their real names.

Amazing! During the winter, some truck drivers build fires under their cabs while they are stopped! When diesel fuel gets very cold it goes thick and gooey, so drivers try to keep it warm and runny so that their engines will start again without any trouble.

Is it true? Trucks have up to 16 gears.

Yes. Trucks need lots of gears. They need very low gears for starting off with a heavy load and for slowly climbing steep hills. They also need very high gears for travelling quickly on motorways.

Where do truckers sleep?

Some long-distance truck drivers sleep in bunks behind or over their seats. The biggest trucks have a sleeper compartment behind the cab, with a toilet and shower.

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Freestyle motocross is a new motorbike sport where the riders perform daring tricks as they jump off humps on a dirt truck. Sometimes they even let go of their bikes completely!

What is stunt riding?

Stunt riders speed up ramps on their bikes, and jump over cars, buses and trucks. The most famous stunt rider of all, Evel Knievel, even tried to jump a canyon in a rocket-powered ‘skycycle’ in 1974. He nearly drowned in the attempt. Evel claims that he has broken every bone in his body.

Amazing! Teams of stunt riders perform incredible tricks such as building motorcycle pyramids and jumping through rings of fire. For a pyramid, the team members balance on each other’s shoulders while the bikes are moving.

What is the wall of death?

The wall of death is a circular, vertical wall. Stunt riders whizz round and round it on their motorbikes, as if they’re riding inside a tin can! They have to ride at full speed to stop falling off the wall.

Is it true? Riding on one wheel is impossible.

No. Riders can lift their front wheels off the ground and ride along on the rear wheel. This trick is called a wheelie. Superbike racers do wheelies to celebrate winning a race.

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 A chopper is a customized bike with a low seat, high handlebars and long front forks. The rider leans back, as if in an armchair. Choppers first appeared in the USA when Harley owners chopped up parts of bikes to make much lighter and faster versions.

Amazing! Chopper motorbikes and tricycle motorbikes a popular with motorbike gangs called Hell’s Angels. Hell’s Angels wear all black – black leathers and black helmets.

Is it true? Chopped scooters are used for drag racing.

Yes. A drag race is a race between two motorbikes along a short, straight track. Some drag racers compete on chopped scooters, which are scooters with a beefed up engine and a long frame.

Who reached 345 kph on a Triumph?

Johnny Allen rode a cigar-shaped Triumph bike at 345 kph across the Bonneville Salt Flats in America in 1956. Triumph named their most famous bike the Bonneville after this feat.

Who put three engines on a motorbike?

Russ Collins put three engines on to his Honda drag racer in the 1970s. Drag bikes need a huge amount of power for maximum acceleration, and some models are even powered by rocket engines!

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TT races are held every year on the public roads of the Isle of Man, part of the British Isles. TT stands for Tourist Trophy, because, when the races started in 1907, they were for touring motorbikes.

Who raced on wooden boards?

Early motorcycle races used to take place on wooden bicycle tracks. Imagine the splinters if you fell off!

Is it true? All motorbikes have brakes.

No. Motorbikes built for speedway racing have no brakes, and only one gear. These races take place on oval tracks made of dirt, sand, grass, and sometimes ice. The riders slide round the bends at each end of the track.

Amazing! In high-speed crashes, motorbike racers sometimes skid across the ground at 250 kph! So racers wear leather overalls to protect them in case they fall off. They also have tough knee pads sewn into their leathers because their knees touch the road as they lean into bends.

What is a superbike?

A superbike, such as this Ducati, is a very fast motorbike, normally with an engine of 750 cc or bigger. The word ‘superbike’ was first used to describe the Honda CB750 of the late 1960s. Superbikes are designed for high-speed racing but can also be used for touring on public roads.

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Trials bikes are designed for riding on steep, rough and rocky ground. They are ridden in motorbike trials, where riders have to ride over obstacles without stopping or putting their feet down to balance.

Amazing! Trials bikes can make short hops up almost vertical rock faces. The rider needs good balance and expert control of the clutch and gears.

Which bikes have knobbly tyres?

Trials bikes and motocross bikes have tyres with a deep, knobbly tread around the outside. The tread helps the tyres to grip the wet and muddy ground during competitions.

Is it true? No one has crossed the desert on a motorbike.

No. Riders often take part in motocross competitions held in deserts. There are also long-distance desert motorbike rallies, such as the Paris-Dakar rally which crosses the dusty Sahara Desert.

Which motorcyclists wear armour?

Riders in motocross races wear tough plastic body armour to protect them in case they fall off, or are hit by other bikes. They also wear long, tough boots, helmets and goggles to keep mud out of their eyes.

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A motorbike’s engine is between the two wheels, attached to the bike’s frame. Above the engine, just in front of the driver’s seat, is the fuel tank. Exhaust pipes carry waste gases from the engine to the rear of the bike.

Are motorbike engines all the same shape?

The shape of an engine depends on how many cylinders it has and how they are arranged. A v-twin engine has two cylinders in a V shape. A straight-four has four cylinders in a line.

Amazing! The biggest engine on a motorbike is a 1600 cc engine on a Yamaha superbike. The engine is as big and powerful as the engine in a family car.

What is a two-stroke engine?

A two-stroke engine is a simple petrol engine often used on small motorbikes, mopeds and scooters. Larger motorbikes have a four-stroke petrol engine. Two-stroke engines use more fuel and make more pollution.

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A scooter has small wheels, a small engine near the rear wheel, and a gap in the frame for the rider’s legs. They are cheap to run and good for nipping around busy towns and cities.

Amazing! You can buy toy motorbikes which are models of real bikes, with tiny engines and the same controls as a full-sized bike. They’re not allowed on the road though.

Which is the best-selling motorbike ever?

The 50 cc Honda Super Cub, which went on sale in 1958, is the biggest selling motorbike ever. This little bike is cheap to run, and is still popular all over the world.

Is it true? The scooter is a recent invention.

No. Scooters became popular in Italy in the 1950s, and in the 1960s they became very trendy. They were ridden by young British men called mods, which dressed in green parka coats and customized their scooters with lots of mirrors and flags.

Which scooter fits in a car boot?

The American-made Autoped, which was produced in 1915, could be folded up to fit into the boot of a car. In recent years, as traffic has become busier, fold-up scooters have become popular again for cheap and speedy travel.

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A drive shaft is a rod which carries power from a bike’s engine to its rear wheel. Some early bikes, such as the Belgian FN of 1906, had drive shafts instead of belts or chains. The shaft turned the wheel using gears.

Amazing! In the early 1900s, women always wore dresses, even when they rode on motorbikes. So some bikes had a dress guard made of string which stopped dresses getting tangled in the engine or rear wheel.

What were leather belts for?

Most motorcycles today use a chain to drive the rear wheel. But many motorcycles made before 1910 used a thick leather belt instead. Belts were unreliable, as they wore out quickly, often broke and even slipped in the rain!

When was a drive chain first used?

Most modern bikes have a flexible metal chain which carries power from the engine to the rear wheel. Chain drives were introduced on some bikes in the early 1900s, such as the 1905 Scott. Chains are made up of dozens of short pieces linked together.

Is it true? Belt drives are still used today.

Yes. Most modern bikes use a chain drive, but some have belts instead. The belts are made from rubber, strengthened with fabric. Belts are lighter than chains and need less maintenance. A few modern bikes have drive shafts instead of a chain or belt.

The Michaux-Perreaux bicycle of 1869 had a steam engine under its saddle. Wood or coal had to be put in the engine every few minutes to keep the water boiling, to work the engine.

Who put an engine above a front wheel?

The Werner brothers in France built a motorcycle in 1899. It was a safety bicycle with a petrol engine above the front wheel, in front of the handlebars.

Amazing! American engineer Lucius Copeland made a motorcycle by adding a small steam engine to a penny farthing. He rode the bicycle backwards, using the small wheel to steer. The machine could travel at 20 kph.

What did the first motorbike look like?

The first proper motorbike had a heavy wooden frame, wooden wheels with metal rims, and two stabilising wheels to stop it toppling over. It was the first motorbike to have a lightweight petrol engine, but it was very slow. It was built by German engineers Daimler and Maybach in 1885.

Is it true? Early motorcycles had pedals.

Yes. The engines on early motorcycles were not very powerful or reliable. So the bikes had pedals for going up hills or in case of a breakdown. Some modern bikes, such as mopeds, still have pedals.

In 1838, a Scottish blacksmith called Kirkpatrick Macmillan built the first bicycle with pedals. Before this, bicycle riders kicked the ground to move along.

What was a penny farthing?

A penny farthing was a bicycle of the 1870s, named after two British coins. It had an enormous front wheel (the penny) and a small rear wheel (the farthing).

Amazing! In the 1880s, couples often rode side by side on tricycles (cycles with three wheels) called sociables. Each person had a set of pedals, which turned the huge rear wheels.

Is it true? People raced tricycles.

Yes. In the 1880s, the tricycle was not just a cycle for children, as it is today. It was popular with adults too. Tricycle racing was one of the first forms of cycle racing. Race events were held on bumpy roads and wooden tracks.

What was a safety bicycle?

The safety bicycle was the first bicycle to look like today’s bikes. It appeared in 1885. It had two wheels the same size, a diamond-shaped metal frame, pedals that turned the rear wheel using a chain, and brakes worked by levers on the handlebars.

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Really fast future trains might not bother with wheels. They could ride on a cushion of air, like a hovercraft. The nose of the train squashes air underneath its belly as it jets along, and the squashed air lifts it above the ground. The Aerotrain already exists as an experimental vehicle.

What is a bullet train?

Japan’s fastest trains, the Shinkansen, were nicknamed bullet trains because of their pointy noses – and high speed! The fastest, Nozomi, travels at 300 kph. With no time wasted at airports, travelling by Nozomi can be quicker than flying by jet!

Amazing! One sled travelled at Mach 8. An unmanned rocket vehicle on rails achieved 9,851 kph in an American experiment in 1982. On straight track, it could make the eight-day Trans-Siberian trip in less than one hour!

Is it true? Some trains run on magnets.

Yes. Germany and Japan have both tested trains that use repelling magnets to float above the track. The track doesn’t wear out, and the trains can slip along at amazing speeds.

Are trains ‘green’?

Trains are less harmful to the environment than most other kinds of transport. They are particularly important in cities, where underground trains, trams and monorails can reduce pollution from cars, buses and taxis. For long distance journeys, trains use much less fuel than jet aircraft.

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The longest train ever was a freight train measuring 7.3 kilometers! The longest passenger train was a measly 1.7 kilometres, but the Belgian railway couldn’t find a platform long enough to park it!

Amazing! Eight men can lay 16 kilometers of track in a day! A team of eight track-layers in America set this world record on April 18, 1869.

Which train is fastest?

France pioneered fast trains after World War Two When Japan introduced the Shinkansen ‘bullet train’ in the 1960s, France responded with the TGV. An experimental TGV has reached 515 kph!

Is it true? A train can weigh more than the Eiffel Tower.

Yes. An Australian mine train was weighed in 1996 at 72,191 tonnes – that’s more than eight Eiffel Towers!

Which train travels farthest?

The once-daily service between Moscow and Vladivostok in Russia travels 9,350 kilometres, taking eight days. Known as the Trans-Siberian Express, or The Russia, the train has featured in several books and films. It is second only in fame to the Orient Express.

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In 1963 a train full of used banknotes was robbed in Buckinghamshire, England. The thieves got away with over £2.5 million, a huge sum of money even today.

Amazing! Trains at Mwatate Dam have to mind out for demons. The Kenyan villagers nearby, thought that trains were having a lot of accidents there because the local spirits were angry. Trains began pausing briefly to salute the spirits, and there hasn’t been a crash since!

Do trains crash?

Trains occasionally crash for a number of reasons — there might be a points failure, or a weak bridge. Amazingly, no one was killed when this cattle train crashed through the front of an Irish railway station. Rail travel is usually very safe though.

Did railway projects always work?

No. The English almost built a Channel Tunnel in 1883. They tunneled roughly two kilometres under the sea, but the government was worried the French would use the tunnel to invade England, so it was abandoned!

Is it true? Some trains are too big.

Yes. The Soviet Union made a locomotive in 1934 that was too long. Its non-swivelling wheels and heavy weight actually straightened out curves in the track, leaving it stuck in a ditch!

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Trains use big bridges or deep tunnels to cross the largest rivers. The Victorian engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, invented strong metal bridges to carry the weight of a train. Some bridges are so big that repainting them is a full-time job!

Is the Channel Tunnel longest?

Not quite. The Channel Tunnel is 49.8 kilometres in total. The Seikan, Japan’s tunnel between the main islands of Honshu and Hokkaido, travels an amazing 53.9 kilometres underground.

Where was the first raised city railway?

New York City had a serious traffic problem in the 1880s, and that was before cars! An ‘Elevated Railway’, known as ‘the L’ for short, was built above the streets. It still works today.

Amazing! You can take a train on a boat. Train ferries started operating in the late 1800s between England and France. Passengers stayed in their seats all the way from London to Paris!

Is it true? Box Hill tunnel knows its creator’s birthday.

Yes. Brunel built it at a special angle. Each year, only on his birthday, the sun shines right through the entire 3.2 kilometre tunnel in southern England.

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Cable cars, such as the ones in San Francisco, are pulled along by a moving loop of cable, made from strong steel. The cable passes through a slot between the rails, and the cars fix on to it. This way, cable cars can climb very steep hills.

Where is the longest straight?

It’s difficult to build straight stretches of track near towns, but much easier in empty parts of the world. The longest stretch of straight track is in the desert of Australia. It is perfectly straight for 478 kilometres.

Amazing! Railways can go missing! During the American Civil War, the South ripped up some of its less important railways to use as spare parts along the battle front. The states of Florida and Texas gave up their entire networks!

Can trains travel the length of Africa?

There is no direct link from Cairo in North Africa to Cape Town, South Africa, 9,760 kilometres away. Cecil Rhodes tried to build a railway line in the late 19th century, but one of his problems was finding enough workmen. Twenty eight of his men were eaten by lions on the Athi Plains in Kenya! However there are plans to complete this link soon.

Is it true? America’s rail network is longer than the equator!

Yes. If the entire train track in America was laid end-to-end it would form a single track which would go almost six times around the world –that’s 240,000 kilometres!

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France was the first country to use electric trains on a major mainline route, making the whole of the Paris to Orleans route electric in 1900. French electric trains have broken many speed records. This 1981 train was able to travel as fast as 380 kph, which was a record at the time.

Is it true? Electric trains were invented in 1879.

Yes. Werner von Siemens demonstrated an electric train at the Berlin Trades Exhibition, in Germany in 1879. People queued up to have a ride on the tiny carriages.

What’s a pantograph?

A pantograph is the metal connecter that reaches from the roof of an electric engine to the live wire overhead — just like the pole at the back of a fairground bumper car.

Amazing! One electric train travels all over Europe. Trans-Europ-Express was designed to use the different electricity supplies in different European countries. Engineers have to change its wheels though, every time it travels in and out of Spain.

Are electric engines better than diesel?

Electric power lets trains use energy without creating too much mess. The only pollution is at the power station where the electricity is made. Electric power is ideal for trams and underground trains in cities. Diesels are better on long routes where great lengths of electricity would be too expensive.

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America’s Pennsylvania Railroad used Baldwin diesel engines in pairs. Each one had twelve small wheels on each side. Linked together, making a 6,000 horse-power monster, they looked like they had 24 ‘legs’.

Amazing! Diesel engines can be steam engines too. The 1924 Kitson-Still used a diesel engine for its main power, but also used the heat of the engine to create steam. This powered an extra set of drive wheels.

Why did diesel take over from steam?

Diesel power first came into use to cope with the problem of smoke in cities and underground railways. During World War Two, military diesel engines became lighter and smaller. Just like today’s trains, the engines fitted under the floors of the carriages.

Which diesel looked like an aeroplane?

The German Kruckenburg of 1931 had a huge propeller at the back which pushed it along like an aeroplane on rails. It reached speeds up to 230 kph during a ten- kilometre speed trial. Unfortunately, it was too noisy and dangerous for everyday use.

Is it true? Diesel engines use electric motors.

Yes. Many diesel-engined trains actually use electric motor to turn the wheels. The engine itself uses diesel fuel. It turns a generator, which creates the electricity needed by the electric motors. This is because electric motors turn powerfully at all speeds, unlike a diesel engine.

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Between 1800 and 1825, there were ‘trains’ without engines in Wales and Austria. Horses pulled carriages along the rails. It was a smoother ride than road travel.

Which train was the first to carry passengers?

Stephenson’s Locomotion was the first engine to be used on a public railway, the Stockton and Darlington, in 1825. Stephenson’s Rocket won £500 in competition at Rain hill, Liverpool, four years later.

What was the first train engine?

Richard Trevithick, a mine engineer, first demonstrated a mobile engine on rails in 1804. It pulled 70 men and ten tonnes of iron ore, in front of a crowd of amazed onlookers. His next engine became a fairground ride.

Amazing! There were horse-drawn trains 50 years ago! The Fintona Branch of Ireland’s Great Northern railway remained horse-powered until the early 1950S.

Is it true? The ancient Greeks had a steam engine!

Yes. Hero of Alexander wrote about a steam-powered spinning ball, called the ‘aeolipile’ in 200 BC. But since slave labour was free, no one bothered to use the engine as a labour-saving device.

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Trains use special links called couplings to clip different parts together. Trains used to be coupled by hand, which could be dangerous.

What’s a locomotive?

A locomotive is the part of the train which contains the engine. It does the work of pulling (or pushing) the train along the track. Locomotives may have to carry their fuel with them. They have special wheels to grip the track.

Who steers the train?

Trains follow the track they’re on, so they don’t need a steering wheel. A person in the junction box can change the direction of a train by moving special junctions in the track called points.

Amazing! Some trains lean over! Modern fast trains take corners so quickly that passengers might slosh around inside. Computers in the train ‘feel’ the sideways forces, and tilt the train in the other direction so that you don’t spill your tea.

Is it true? Some trains are blown along by the wind.

Yes. At least, some were, especially when fuel was hard to find. America’s Baltimore & Ohio railroad experimented with sail power in the 1830s.

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The Renault Zoom is a tiny car which can get shorter by folding its rear wheels up. This makes it easier to park in smaller parking spaces. The Zoom also has a ‘green’ electric motor, which is powered by rechargeable batteries.

Which is the cleanest car?

The NECAR 4 is powered by liquid hydrogen, which is stored in a cylinder at the back of the car. The fuel is passed through a fuel cell, which creates the electricity to power the car. These cars are quiet and efficient, and instead of dirty exhaust fumes, they only produce water.

Is it true? Cars can run on plants.

Yes. In Brazil there’s an alternative source of fuel, taken directly from a plant. One ‘petrol tree’ is able to produce nearly 20 litres of fuel. The Brazilians are planning to grow huge plantations of these trees to solve the problem of increasing fuel shortages.

Which car runs on sunlight?

Cars are being developed that can convert sunlight into electricity to power their engines. The solar-powered car of the future might look like the vehicle with solar panels on the roof.

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In the film Goldfinger, James Bond drove an Aston Martin DB5 with a passenger ejector seat. Bond used it to get rid of one of his enemies. The Aston Martin also had machine guns, armour and spikes which came out of the wheels to slash the tyres of other cars.

Amazing! When the Pope travels away from the Vatican, he takes a special car, nicknamed the ‘Popemobile’. The car has a bullet-proof glass dome. When the Pope goes on tours he stands under the dome holding on to a hand rail. His followers can easily see him, and he can see them, without the risk of attack.

Which supercar had six wheels?

The wedge-shaped Panther Six was designed by Bob Jankel in 1977. It was five metres long and over two metres wide. Both pairs of front wheels steered the car, which was never sold to the public.

Who had his Rolls Royce painted in amazing flowery patterns?

The Beatles were the world’s biggest pop group in the 1960s. Singer John Lennon painted his Rolls Royce Phantom VI with trendy colourful patterns.

Is it true? There really was a car called a Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Yes. In the 1920s, Count Louis Zborowski commissioned three incredibly fast Brooklands racing cars. The Count, a keen racer, competed in all three cars, but was killed in his Mercedes racing car in 1924.

Factory robots weld and paint cars on production lines. They are taught what to do by an engineer and then do it again and again very accurately. They work 24 hours a day and never get tired!

Who crash-tests cars?

Crash-test dummies are artificial humans which sit inside cars as they’re made to crash. The electronic dummies measure what happens to them, and if the cars’ safety features work properly. Cars which fail the tests have to be re-designed.

How are cars designed?

Every part of a car is designed using computers. Engineers draw what the parts and the car will look like, and the computer helps to control the machines which make the parts.

Amazing! When cars wear out they’re crushed into tiny cubes by a huge machine. It squashes the car first one way and then the other. The metal in the cube is recycled to make new cars.

Is it true? Cars are tested in wind tunnels.

Yes. A wind tunnel is a tube with a huge fan at one end. Engineers check how air flows around the cars. The easier it flows, the faster the car can go and the less fuel it uses.

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An internal combustion engine is the sort of engine that most cars have. ‘Internal combustion’ means that a fuel and air mixture burns inside can-shaped cylinders inside the engine.

Why do cars have gears?

Cars have gears so that they can start off and move at different speeds. First gear is for starting off. First and second gears are for going slowly. Fourth and fifth gears are for going quickly.

Is it true? The tread of a tyre grips the road.

No. The rubber of the tyres grips the road. Tread is the pattern of grooves around the outside of a tyre. The grooves let water escape from between a tyre and a wet road so that the rubber can touch the road surface for grip.

What are springs and dampers?

Springs and dampers make up a car’s suspension, which gives the people inside a smooth ride. Springs let the car’s wheels move up and down as it goes over bumps. Dampers stop the car from bouncing after it’s passed over the bumps.

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Until the middle of World War Two, Willys-Overland Company made ordinary cars. But they became famous for producing one of the best known cars of all time. The Willys jeep was a four-wheel drive general purpose (G.P) vehicle, used by the American army.

What is four-wheel drive?

When a car has four-wheel drive, it means that the engine makes all four wheels turn. In most cars, the engine only turns two of the wheels. Four-wheel drive is excellent for travelling off-road on muddy tracks and up steep hills.

Amazing! King George V of England owned a six-wheeled limousine. It was built by Crossley in 1929, and had a 3.8 litre, six cylinder engine. The king used it for cross country expeditions, but it never went into production.

Is it true? A car has been driven on the moon.

Yes. The missions Apollo 15, 16 and 17 that travelled to Moon in the 1970s carried Lunar Roving Vehicles (LRVs) or Moon buggies. The astronauts drove the electric buggies around the Moon’s surface, looking for interesting rocks. All three buggies are still on the Moon.

Which car can swim?

The 1962 Amphicar was part car, part boat. It had two propellers at the back, and the front wheels steered it, like a rudder. The large tail fins stopped water from flooding the engine.

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In 1949, American inventor Molt Taylor built a car which could be turned into an aeroplane. By 1953, the car had flown over 40,250 kilometres. On the ground, the Aerocar towed its tail and wings in a trailer.

Is it true? American cars had the biggest fins of all.

Yes. In the 1950s, American car designers began adding pointy bits such as tail fins to their cars. Some features were copied from the jet fighters of the time! Tail fins often had rows of lights up the back. These huge and thirsty cars also had plenty of chrome bodywork.

Amazing! The driver of a Cadillac Coupe de Ville did not have to worry about blinding other drivers with his or her headlights. The car had an electronic eye which detected headlights coming in the opposite direction and automatically dipped its headlights.

Which car had gull wings?

The doors on the 1952 Mercedes 300SL opened upwards like a seagull’s wings. The idea was given up because they couldn’t be opened if the car turned over in an accident.

What was a T-bird?

T-bird was the nickname given to the Ford Thunderbird. The first model appeared in 1953. It was a huge two-seater convertible. In the 1950s, American manufacturers built many huge gas guzzlers like the Thunderbird.

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‘Tin Goose’ was the nickname of a short-lived rear-engined car called the Tucker ’48. It had many original features, such as a strong passenger safety compartment and a third headlight which swivelled as the driver turned the steering wheel.

Why was the Citroen 7CV so special?

The Citroen 7CV of 1934 was the first popular car driven by its front wheels. It was known as the Traction Avant. It was also one of the first cars to have a one-piece body shell instead of a chassis with a body built on top.

Amazing! Even as late as 1931, some cars ran on steam power. Abner Doble built his first steam car in 1905, and went on to make several luxurious examples. They had plenty of power, and ran almost silently, but at prices between $8,000 and $11,000, they were beyond the reach of the average motorist.

What was the people’s car?

The people’s car was the first Volkswagen (which means ‘people’s car’ in German). It was designed in the 1930s by Doctor Ferdinand Porsche to be a small family car which was cheap to run. It was soon nicknamed the Beetle or Bug. 40 million have been made.

Is it true? Some cars have armour.

Yes. An armoured car is a military vehicle with steel plates on its body to make it bullet-proof. It usually has a small gun, too. Security companies often use vans with armour to transport valuable items or cash. Some limousines also have armour plating to make them bullet proof.

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The Model-T Ford was nicknamed ‘Tin Lizzie’. It was small and reliable, and cheap enough for millions of people to buy.

Who got dressed up to go motoring?

Drivers and passengers of early cars had to dress up in protective clothes before driving into the countryside. Most cars had no windscreen, doors or bodywork to keep out wind and rain, or dust and mud from the dirt roads. So people wore thick fur coats or rubber capes, peaked hats and enormous goggles over their eyes.

Amazing! In the early 1900s, there were no petrol stations. Village blacksmiths often kept a supply of petrol to sell to car drivers whose tanks had run dry. There were no garages or mechanics either, so drivers had to carry a tool kit and spare parts in their cars, in case of a breakdown.

Is it true? Henry Ford invented the production line.

No. Production lines existed before Henry Ford started making cars. But he did invent the moving line, where the cars moved along as parts were added.

Who spoke to the driver through a tube?

In some early cars, the passengers sat in the back behind a glass screen. The driver sat in the front. The passengers spoke to the driver through a metal tube to give him directions.

The Silver Ghost was one of the first cars built by the Rolls Royce Company. Only rich people could afford to buy one, and they normally employed a chauffeur to drive it! Like all Rolls Royce cars, the Silver Ghost was famous for being very quiet and extremely well made.

Which car was very cheap to run?

The Austin Seven was so economical that it used half a penny’s worth of petrol to travel a kilometre. The Seven was so tiny that it was often called a ‘toy’ car, but it was very cheap to buy.

Is it true? Taxis have always had meters.

Yes. The word taxi is short for taximeter cab. A taximeter was a meter designed in 1891 that recorded the distance that a horse-drawn cab had travelled. When engine-powered taxis were introduced in 1907, they also had to have a meter.

Who went on trips in a charabanc?

Factory workers and their families used to go on days out to the seaside or to the city in a vehicle called a charabanc. A charabanc was like a wagon with benches in the back for passengers to sit on. The first charabancs were pulled by teams of horses.

Amazing! The Bugatti Type 41 Royale was designed by Ettore Bugatti to be the most luxurious car ever. His idea was that every royal family in Europe would buy one. The car was 6.7 metres long and had a twelve litre engine. But only six Royales were ever built, and only three were ever sold. Today, if a Bugatti Royale ever appears at auction, it fetches millions of pounds.

A horseless carriage was a horse-drawn carriage with an engine in place of the horse. The first horseless carriages were powered by steam. In England by the 1830s some passenger services were operated with steam coaches. But the coaches were slow, noisy and dirty, and wrecked the cart tracks!

Who invented the first car?

Two German engineers, Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler, both built working cars in 1885. Each car had a small petrol engine to drive it.

Amazing! When mechanical vehicles first appeared in Britain, a man had to walk in front of them carrying a red warning flag (or a red light at night). The Red Flag Law was introduced because other road users, such as horse riders, complained about the danger.

Is it true? The first cars didn’t have steering wheels.

Yes. The steering wheel did not appear on cars until the late 1890s. Before that, drivers steered with a lever, like the tiller on a boat, or by spinning handles on a small upright wheel on the end of a vertical pole.

Which was the first car to be sold?

The first car to be sold was a three-wheel model built by Karl Benz. The first owner was a French engineer called Emile Roger, who bought his car in 1887. Soon Benz had a factory building cars for sale, but only a few of the three-wheelers were sold.

An aircraft carrier has a huge, empty flat deck where aircraft take off and land. The aircraft take off from the bow using a catapult. They land again from the stern. Hooks on the planes catch a wire on deck, and stop the planes with a jolt. Underneath the deck are hangars where the aircraft are stored and serviced.

Amazing! The first gun battle between two ironclads (warships with iron armour) took place in 1862 during the American Civil War. The Monitor and the Merrimack fired at each other but no great damage was done.

What was a pocket battleship?

Pocket battleships were small, fast, German ships in the 1930s. Only three of them were built. Each had six huge guns, armour more than 60 millimetres thick and powerful diesel engines.

Is it true? Some ships are nuclear-powered.

Yes. Some large submarines, some aircraft carriers and some ice breakers have nuclear-powered engines. They can travel for several months without having to re-fuel.

Which ship is invisible?

The United States Navy ‘stealth’ warship doesn’t show up clearly on enemy radar. Like the stealth aircraft, its special shape and paint scatter enemy radar signals making it very difficult to detect.

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The biggest submarines are nuclear-powered naval submarines. The biggest of all are Russian Typhoon Submarines. They’re 171metres long (as long as two football pitches) and weigh 26,500 tonnes. They can stay under water for months on end and sail around the world without refueling.

What was a U-boat?

U-boats were German submarines used in World War One and World War two. U-boat is short for underwater boat. U-boats sank thousands of ships. They crept up silently, hidden under the water, and fired missiles called torpedoes. The torpedoes zoomed through the water and exploded when they hit the ships.

Amazing! The first working submarine looked like a wooden barrel. It was built in 1776 and was called Turtle. The operator sat inside and pedalled to make its propellers turn. Turtle was designed to attack ships by diving under them and fixing a bomb to their hulls. But it was never successful.

Is it true? Submarines use sound to see.

Yes. A submarine’s sonar machine makes beeps of sound that spread out through the water. If the sound hits an object in the water, it bounces back to the submarine and is picked up by the sonar machine. The machine works out how big the object is and how far away it is.

What is a periscope?

Submarine crews use their periscopes to see ships on the surface above them when submarines are submerged. The top of the periscope sticks just above the surface. It works using several lenses and prisms (triangular pieces of glass).

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A micro-sub (also called a submersible) is a small submarine, often used for exploring under the sea. One of the latest micro-sub is Deep Flight1, Which can dive to a depth of 1,000 metres.

Is it true? Submarines can dive to the bottom of the ocean.

No. The deepest a normal submarine can dive is about 700 metres. If a submarine went any deeper the huge water pressure would crush its hull and water would flood in.

Amazing! Divers who repair undersea pipelines and oil rigs wear strong diving suits, like mini submersibles. They can dive to about 300 metres. The divers have to breathe oxygen mixed with helium, which gives them very squeaky voices!

What are Alvin and Jason Junior?

Alvin is a submersible that carries a crew of three. Jason Junior is a robot submersible that can be operated from Alvin or from a ship on the surface. In 1985, Jason Junior discovered the wreck of the ocean liner Titanic at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

How deep can submersibles go?

Special, extra-strong-hulled submersibles called bathyscaphes can dive many kilometres under the sea. In 1960, the bathyscaphe Trieste made the deepest dive ever — an incredible 10,911 metres into the Marianas Trench in the Pacific Ocean.

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Lifeboats are rescue boats that don’t sink even if they capsize (turn upside down). A lifeboat has a watertight cabin that makes it bob back upright. It has a strong hull and powerful engines for travelling quickly through rough seas.

Amazing! The famous passenger liner Titanic was supposed to be unsinkable. But it sank on its maiden (first) voyage after hitting an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean in 1912.

What is a lightship?

A lightship is a ship with a lighthouse on its deck. Lightships are anchored near shallow water or dangerous rocks to warn sailors to keep clear. Most lightships have no crew because they are controlled automatically from shore.

Is it true? Life savers row through surf to rescue people.

Yes. Lifeguards row boats designed to break easily through surf near the beach. When they’re off duty, lifeguards also race their boats.

Which boat puts out fires?

Fire-fighting tugs are like fire engines at sea. They’re designed to put out fires on ships, oil rigs, or in buildings on shore. They have powerful pumps which pump water from the sea to spray at fires.

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Fishermen use boats called trawlers to catch fish and other sea creatures such as shrimps. A trawler moves slowly through the water, pulling huge fishing nets behind. Every few hours the nets are pulled in and emptied. Trawlers have to be very strong and seaworthy because they often fish in stormy seas.

What is a factory ship?

A factory ship is a huge fishing ship where fish are prepared for market. The catch can even be frozen and stored on board. Factory ships sometimes catch their own fish, but normally they store fish caught by a whole fleet of much smaller fishing boats.

Who hunted whales?

Whalers were men who hunted whales for the oil in their blubber and also for their meat. When a whale was spotted, the whalers went after it in small boats and threw or fired spears, called harpoons, to kill it.

Is it true? People go fishing in kayaks.

Yes. Kayak is the proper name for a canoe with a deck on top and a small cockpit where the paddler sits. In the Arctic, Inuit fishermen hunt in kayaks made from wooden frames covered in seal skin.

Amazing! Fishing boats called long liners catch fish on a fishing line up to 50 kilometres long. Hooks with bait are attached all the way along the line. Floats on the line have beacons that show where the line is in the dark.

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The oil tanker Jahre Viking is the biggest ship ever built. It is 458 metres long and 68 metres wide. Four football pitches would fit on its deck. Fully laden, it weighs 564,000 tonnes.

What is a ro-ro?

A ro-ro is a type of vehicle ferry. Ro-ro is short for roll-on, roll-off. It means that vehicles such as cars, buses and trucks drive on to the ferry at one port and drive off again when the ferry arrives at its destination.

Is it true? Some ships break ice.

Yes. Ice breakers are ships that can break through thick ice. They help to keep routes open for other ships in the winter. An ice breaker has powerful engines and a very strong hull.

Amazing! Some ships sink on purpose to rescue other ships. A semi-submersible ship sinks slowly down until its deck is under the water’s surface. Then it moves beneath another ship and rises again to push the other ship up.

What is a container ship?

A container ship is a cargo ship that carries metal boxes called containers. The containers are piled on its deck and sometimes in its hold, too. Each container carries a different sort of cargo.

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About 1,000 years ago, Viking warriors rowed their longships when the wind blew from the wrong direction, or stopped blowing altogether. Longships were sleek wooden ships with a single square sail, used for exploring and launching raids.

Is it true? Boats can be rowed with one oar.

Yes. Some boats, such as gondolas in Venice, are rowed with a single oar. The rower stands at the boat’s stern (back) and rows by sweeping a long oar from side to side.

Who rowed in battle?

The Ancient Greeks fought in warships called galleys that they rowed into battle. Slaves did the rowing while soldiers fought on deck. Galleys had a sharp ram at the bow (front) to sink enemy ships. A galley with three banks of oars on each side was called a trireme.

Amazing! Many people have rowed across the Atlantic Ocean or Pacific Ocean. And some have done it solo (on their own). The journey across the Atlantic takes two months or more, and across the Pacific four months or more.

Who steers an eight?

An ‘eight’ is the crew of a racing rowing boat. The ninth member, the cox, tells the rowers what pace to row at, and steers with a small rudder at the back of the boat.

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A clipper was a fast-sailing cargo ship. Clippers were built in America and Europe in the 19th century to carry important cargoes, such as tea from China, quickly around the world. Clippers had three or four tall masts with five or more huge sails on each mast.

Is it true? Sailors had to climb the masts to change sails.

No. Sailors had to ‘go aloft’ to change the sails, but they climbed rope ladders instead of the wooden masts themselves. And there were no safety ropes in case of a fall!

Amazing! Large sailing ships often had a carving called a figurehead at the bow. Some figureheads were gods or saints, some were mythical sea creatures such as mermaids, and some were real people. Viking longships had frightening dragon or snake figureheads.

What was a galleon?

Galleons were trading and fighting ships used in the 15th and 16th centuries. The galleon Mayflower took the first pilgrims to America in 1620.

Who went to sea on a junk?

Chinese sailors have been going to sea in ships called junks for more than a thousand years. Junks have cloth sails strengthened with bamboo poles. Large junks have five masts. Junks were the first ships to have a rudder to help them steer.

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A steam liner was a steam-powered passenger or cargo ship that crossed oceans on set routes at set times. In the 19th and 20th centuries, millions of people emigrated from Europe to America on steam liners, taking their own food and bedding.

Is it true? Anchors are used to slow ship down.

No. Anchors stop ships from floating away with the wind or tide. Anchors catch in rocks or sand on the seabed.

Amazing! Modern cruise liners are like huge floating hotels. There are cabins for thousands of passengers, restaurants, cinemas, theatres and lots of swimming pools.

Which modern liner has sails?

The luxury cruise liner Club Med has sails as well as an engine. Using the sails when the wind blows saves fuel for the engine.

What does a tug do?

A tug is a boat with very powerful engines that pulls or pushes large ships. Tugs help to move ships in and out of port. They also go to the rescue of broken-down ships, and tow them back to port to be repaired.

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The three-hulled Yellow Pages Endeavour broke the sail-powered water speed record. With an aerofoil sail perched on its tiny hulls, Endeavour had a speed of 46.53 knots and a crew of just two who travelled in a closed cockpit.

Who races on a cat?

Catamarans, or ‘cats’ for short, are twin-hulled boats which can be raced, sailed for pleasure, or used as passenger boats. They travel through the water more easily than single-hulled boats, and are steadier in rough seas.

Amazing! Some boats race all the way around the world, using only wind power. The Round The World Yacht Race is held every four years. Highly skilled sailors can even race ‘the wrong way’ around the world, against the wind and currents.

Is it true? People race yachts on land.

Yes. Three-wheeled sand yachts race along beaches of about 125 kph. Other yachts race along disused railway tracks, and even across snow!

Which boats skate on ice?

Iceboats can reach speed of over 220 kph. They look like normal racing yachts, with tall sails and long ropes. But instead of hulls, they have skates which glide across the ice.

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American Gee Bee planes raced during the 1930s. The company which made them was called Granville Brothers (G. B). These short, fat planes used to race at speeds of nearly 480 kph, in 8,800 kilometre-long races! Plane races were run to show how reliable the aircraft were.

What was the longest air race?

The longest air race was the MacRobertson race from Mildenhall, England to Melbourne, Australia in 1934. It was won by the crew of a de Havilland in a time of 70 hours and 54 minutes.

Is it true? The first non-stop flight around the world was made in 1933.

No. Wiley Post did make the first solo round the world flight in Winnie Mae in 1933, but he had to stop several times to refuel. It was a 25,000 km journey, and it took him just over a week.

Amazing! The first non-stop around the world flight wasn’t until 1986. It took Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager nine days to make the 40,000 kilometre journey. Their lightweight aeroplane Voyager had just 68 litres of fuel left when it landed at Edwards Airforce Base.

When was the first air race?

The first air race was in 1909, near Reims in France. It took place only six years after the very first flight by the Wright brothers.

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A demolition derby is not so much of race as a test of strength. Modified road cars deliberately smash into one another, and the winner is the last car to keep moving. It’s a dangerous sport, and drivers are protected by harnesses and safety cages.

Amazing! Some tractors are powered by aircraft engines! Tractor Tuggers have to drag a sledge weighing a hefty 100 tonnes, for 100 metres along a dirt track.

Which racing cars have no engines?

Gravity Formula One cars are downhill racers, which have no engines, just a steering lever and a small brake. Drivers skid them down steep mountain roads at speeds of around 100 kph!

Is it true? People race lawn mowers.

Yes. Some people really do take their lawn mowers racing. It’s cheaper than Formula One, and it keeps the grass down as well. It just goes to show that if it’s got wheels, someone out there will race it!

Are there races for trucks?

Yes. Specially tuned trucks compete on racetracks. They look like ordinary trucks on the road, but they’re a lot faster. Some even have jet engines, reaching speeds of over 605 kph!

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There used to be a dangerous trend in America for racing at night through the streets in souped-up road cars, nicknamed ‘hotrods’. The official sport of hotrod racing was founded to put an end to racing on the road.

Is it true? Racing cars are not allowed to race in cities any more.

No. Several Grands Prix are still run on public roads. The event at Monte Carlo has been held on almost exactly the same circuit since 1929. The Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne is another example. The streets are cleared of public traffic in advance and crash barriers are set up. Dozens of classic car rallies also run from town to town.

Amazing! In July 1924, Ernest Eldridge broke the World Land Speed Record on a French public road. He was driving a specially built 1907 Fiat called Mephistopheles and reached 234 kph!

What were café racers?

Cafe racers were specially modified bikes, which were raced to and from roadside cafes. This craze started in England in the 1960s. Not surprisingly, cafe racing on public roads is against the law!

Who wears a yellow shirt if he’s winning?

The overall leader in the exhausting Tour de France bicycle race wears a bright yellow shirt. Recently some stages of the race have been run in southern England, Spain and Belgium, as well as France.

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Race officials aren’t allowed to talk with drivers during a race, so they communicate with flags. Different flags warn of danger, problems, or may order a driver off the track. The chequered flag is waved in front of the winning car.

Who wears fireproof underwear?

Underneath their overalls, racing drivers must wear fire-resistant ‘Nomex’ underwear, made up of a long sleeved vest, full length pants, socks and a balaclava. These protect the driver against a blaze of 700° C for twelve seconds.

Amazing! In dry conditions, bald tyres provide better grip than tyres with grooves. In the rain, cars switch to tyres with deep slots, to disperse as much water as possible and prevent skids. Each tyre can disperse 26 litres of water from the road per second!

Is it true? Racing cars could race across the ceiling.

Yes. The air pressure pushing a speeding racing car on to the track is so great that they could race upside down.

Who works in the pit?

About 20 mechanics work in the pits, where they make quick repairs and adjustments during a race. They can change a wheel in under five seconds!

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Riders in motorbike Grands Prix take corners verb quickly by leaning sharply into bends, scraping their knee against the track. This is called the ‘knee down’ position. For protection, they have tough nylon knee pads sewn into their leathers.

Which motorbike racers have three wheels?

Sidecar racing bikes have three wheels. The sidecar isn’t powered, but the second rider provides vital balance. On corners, the sidecar rider leans out, for extra roadholding, and the driver hardly has to reduce speed.

Amazing! Some bikes have tyres with metal spikes sticking from them, for riding on ice. The spikes pierce the icy surface and stop the bike from skidding. Without them, both bike and rider would go flying!

Which motorbikes don’t have brakes?

Speedway racing bikes don’t have brakes. Instead, the bike slows to an almost instant halt, as soon as the throttle is released. Riders wear extra sturdy steel boots, which they grind into the dirt, to bring the bike to a final standstill.

Is it true? Motorbike races last only one hour.

No. Different races have different lengths. The famous Le Mans race in France, for example, lasts for an exhausting 24 hours, while speedway races are often run over just four laps (1200 metres) and last for about a minute!

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There are very strict formulas or rules about how racing cars are built. Formula One cars’ size, shape and petrol tank are all governed by rules, so that every race is fair.

Amazing! Although go-carts are much smaller than other racing cars, they can reach speeds of up to 250 kph! Carting is very popular among young drivers, and many Formula One stars, like Michael Schumacher, used to race carts.

Is it true? Modern racing cars have wings.

Yes. They are at the front and back of the car. A racing car’s wings are carefully designed to stop the car from taking off. As air passes over the wing, it pulls the car down on to the track. This gives the driver better control and roadholding.

What’s an Indycar?

Indycar racing takes place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in America. They have powerful engines and huge fins.

Which cars race for 24 hours?

Sports cars race around the Le Mans circuit in France for 24 hours. Two or three drivers take turns at the wheel to drive the car as far as possible.

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In 1970, American Gary Gabelich drove his rocket-powered car, The Blue Flame, at 1,016 kph through the Bonneville Salt Flats, and it’s still the world’s fastest rocket car. When he wasn’t breaking records, Gary also raced dragsters and worked as a test astronaut.

Who put a rocket on a bike?

Richard ‘Rocketman’ Brown started building The Challenger in 1996. It has three rocket engines, which produce about 12,200 horsepower per tonne, taking it to 530 kph!

Is it true? Some cars need parachutes.

Yes. Some cars are so fast that brakes alone aren’t powerful enough to stop them. Parachutes drag these cars back to lower speeds when they’re travelling very quickly. Thrust SSC has four parachutes to bring it back below the sound barrier.

Who went faster than the speed of sound in a car?

Briton Andy Green set a world record in 1997, when he drove the jet-powered Thrust SSC at 1,227.985 kph through the Nevada desert.

Amazing! As early as 1904, some cars could travel at more than 160 kph! Louis Rigolly was the first person to reach this speed in his enormous 100 horsepower Gobron-Brillie car, during the July Speed Trials in Ostend, Belgium. Luckily he didn’t crash. Seatbelts hadn’t been invented and Rigolly only wore a cloth cap to protect his head!

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In 1825, George Stephenson raced his engine Locomotion against a team of horses, and won. For the first time ever, he showed that a mechanical vehicle could travel more quickly than a horse-drawn carriage.

Amazing! Racing machines have been around for a very long time. The Romans used to race horse-drawn chariots more than 2000 years ago. Their chariots had two wheels which were connected by a wooden axle. It must have been a bumpy ride. The drivers used to stand up to drive, for balance. The more horses, the faster the chariot went.

Is it true? In 1897, a cyclist beat a motorbike in a race.

Yes. A man called W.J. Stocks pedalled over 43 kilometres on his bicycle in one hour, and beat a motorbike by 270 metres. The rider of the motorbike was not happy. He said that the crowd was too noisy and had put him off!

Who first raced in cars?

The first ever race was in 1894 between Paris and Rouen in France. The Count de Dion won in a steam-powered car, which could only manage 18 kph. Early motor races showed people that cars were as fast and reliable as horses.

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BOEING 747

All Modern aeroplanes have similar features, although those of airliners such as the Boeing 747 are larger and more complex than those of smaller aeroplanes. The fuselage is a strong tube inside which the passengers, crew and their baggage travel. Wings support the aeroplane in the air by creating a force called lift. Engines provide a forward force called thrust, which pushes the aeroplane forwards against the resistance of the air (which is called drag). The fin and tail-plane keep the plane flying straight and level. Hinged sections called control surfaces (the rudder, elevators, and ailerons) steer the aircraft through the air.

The 747 is 70.7 m long. Its wingspan is 64.3 m. Take-off weight is 400 tonnes, including 150 tonnes of fuel, stored in tanks in the wings.

The Boeing 747-400 is the latest model of the world’s largest airliner, known as the “Jumbo Jet”. It can carry up to 569 passengers (but normally carries 420 in first, business and economy cabins), and cruises at up to 985 kilometres per hour, at an altitude of 10 kilometres. Its maximum range is 14,100 kilometres – more than a third of the way round the world.

As an aeroplane moves forwards through the air, air hitting the leading edge of the wing separates above and below the wing. Because of the curved shape of a wing, called an aerofoil, the air that flows over it is faster than that flowing underneath. This creates higher air pressure under the wing than above it. The difference in pressure pushes the wing upwards with a force called lift.

CONTROLLING LIFT

The amount of lift from a wing increases with the aero-plane’s speed and also with the angle of attack, the angle at which the wing hits the air. At lower speeds, the pilot maintains lift by raising the nose of the plane to increase the angle of attack. But if the angle becomes too great, air cannot flow smoothly over the top of the wing and lift is lost. This is called a stall.

At low speed during take-off and landing, flaps extend from the trailing (rear) edge of the wing. On the 747, each set of flaps has three sections. There are also small flaps on the leading edge of the wing. Flaps increase the size of the wing, and so create extra lift. For take-off, flaps are partly extended. For landing they are fully extended. Spoilers flip up from the upper surface of the wing. They break the flow of air over the wing, reducing lift.

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JET AIRCRAFT

The jet engine was developed in the late 1930s, both by Hans von Ohain in Germany and Frank Whittle in Britain. The first jet aircraft flew in 1939. Jet engines powered new jet fighters with swept-back wings, such as the MiG-15 and later the Mirage, and a new generation of airliners. Rocket-powered aircraft such as the X-15 were built for research into high-speed flight. The X-15 still holds the world speed record of 7274 kilometres per hour.

The introduction of long-range, economical, jet-powered airliners, such as the De Havilland Comet and the Boeing 707, the first “big jet”, led to a huge boom in airline travel. The first (and so far the only) supersonic airliner, the Concorde, was introduced in 1969, and the first wide-bodied airliner, the Boeing 747, came into operation in 1970.

The latest airliners, fighters such as the Eurofighter, and bombers such as the Northrop B-2, have sophisticated control systems, such as “fly-by-wire”. In an aircraft with a fly-by-wire system, the pilot controls where the aircraft goes, but a computer actually does the flying. In an airliner, fly-by-wire can prevent the pilot making mistakes such as stalling. In a fighter, it allows the pilot to make manoeuvres that would be impossible if he or she were using a standard mechanical control system.

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STORY OF FLIGHT II

The first passenger airlines were formed in 1919, just after the end of World War I. Their airliners were converted wartime bombers, such as the Farman Goliath, which had seats for 11 passengers. Flying in them was cold and bumpy, and there was noise and vibration from the piston engines. In the 1920s and 1930s aviation engineers began building in metal instead of wood, creating aircraft with strong tubular fuselages and monoplane wings, such as the Martin B-10 bomber.

The first modern-style airliners, such as the Douglas DC-3, appeared in the mid-1930s. During World War II pilots needed heavy bombers, such as the B-24 Liberator, and fast fighters, such as the Ilyushin II-2.

In 1926 a prize of $25,000 was offered to the first pilot who could fly non-stop from New York to Paris. American airmail pilot Charles Lindbergh took up the challenge. He had a new, all-metal monoplane, the Spirit of St. Louis, built especially for the journey, and decided to fly on his own. Lindbergh took off from New York on 19th May 1927. Navigating virtually by guesswork, flying low to avoid fog and fighting sleep, Lindbergh reached Paris 33 hours and 30 minutes later, to achieve the first solo Atlantic crossing.

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HELICOPTERS

The idea of a flying machine lifted by a spinning rotor is centuries’ old. The Italian painter and scientist Leonardo da Vinci designed a simple helicopter in about 1500, but he did not have an engine to power it. In 1907 Frenchman Paul Cornu rose 30 centimetres into the air in a twin-rotor helicopter, but he had no controls.

The Focke-Achgelis Fa-61 of 1936, the first successful helicopter, and the Sikorsky VS-300, the first single-rotor helicopter.

The first successful helicopters, built in the 1930s, had two rotors for lift and a propeller for propulsion. The single-rotor helicopter was developed by Russian-born American engineer Igor Sikorsky. The main rotor provided lift and propulsion, and the tail rotor prevented the fuselage (body of the aircraft) spinning in the opposite direction to the main rotor. Helicopters were soon being used by navies and for passenger services. The development of the jet engine in the 1950s made larger, faster helicopters possible.

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STORY OF FLIGHT I

For thousands of years, people must have watched birds flying around them and dreamed of copying them. Many actually tried it. These “birdmen” strapped on wings and leapt from towers, trying to flap their arms. Most were killed.

The first manned flight took place in Paris in 1783, in a hot-air balloon built by the French brothers Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier. Aviators also began to develop airships – balloons with a streamlined shape, pushed through the air by an engine. Balloons and airships are described as lighter-than-air aircraft because they float upwards in the heavier air around them.

The first heavier-than-air aircraft were gliders, built and flown in the nineteenth century by pioneers such as the German Otto Lilienthal. In the USA, two brothers, Orville and Wilbur Wright, were experimenting with kites and gliders. They made thousands of test flights in their gliders, gradually perfecting their controls. In 1903 they finally built an aeroplane, called Flyer 1, with a petrol engine. It made the first-ever powered, controlled aeroplane flight, which lasted just 12 seconds.

The Montgolfiers’ balloon carried the first pilot and passenger on a 25-minute flight. The air in the balloon was heated by straw burning on the ground. In 1852 Frenchman Henry Giffard took off in his steam-powered airship. The envelope was filled with lighter-than-air hydrogen gas rather than hot air. Airships such as the 245-metre-long Graf Zeppelin II had a steel skeleton covered in fabric. The gas was contained in huge bags inside.

In the decade after the Wright brothers’ historic flight, aviation became a popular sport. Race meetings and airshows were held, and pilots made historic long-distance flights. Aircraft technology steadily improved. Aviators began to understand how to build stronger aircraft structures without increasing weight, wings which gave better lift and created less drag, and controls that made life easier for the pilot. The standard aircraft shape, with a tail section supporting a fin and tailplane, began to become popular. More efficient and powerful engines and propellers gave aircraft greater speed, endurance and reliability. By 1913 the speed record was 203 kilometres per hour, and the distance record 1021 kilometres.

Armies began ordering aircraft from manufacturers such as Glenn Curtiss in the USA and Louis Bleriot in France. During World War I, aircraft became specialized for certain jobs, such as fast, maneuverable fighters and large, long-distance bombers. Large, flat decks were added to some battleships where aircraft could take off to attack enemy ships with torpedoes.

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BICYCLE

A bicycle is a human-powered vehicle with two wheels. The first bicycles, called “hobby horses”, were built about 200 years ago. The rider moved along by pushing his or her feet against the ground. The first pedal-powered bicycle was made by Scottish blacksmith Kirkpatrick Macmillan in 1839. In 1861 in Paris, Pierre Michaux built a bicycle on which the pedals turned the front wheels. It was known as the “boneshaker” and was the first popular bicycle. The modern bicycle, with a diamond-shaped frame and chain-driven back wheel, was designed in 1885 by Englishman John Starley.

MOTORCYCLES

Early motorcycles were simply bicycles with a small steam engine attached, but they were not practical machines. The first modern-style motorcycles, with a metal frame, two air-filled tyres and a lightweight petrol engine, appeared around 1900. Modern motorcycles have similar features to cars, but have much greater acceleration.

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HISTORY OF CARS

People had used carts pulled by horses, oxen or other large animals for more than 5000 years before the first self-propelled vehicle was built. This was a clumsy steam-powered carriage designed to pull artillery guns, built by Frenchman Nicolas Cugnot in 1769. Steam-powered vehicles called traction engines took the place of horses on farms from the 1850s. Cars driven by small steam engines were popular in the USA in the 1890s.  

Nicolas Cugnot’s steam carriage could manage just 5 km/h. Karl Benz’s three-wheeled car, which had a single-cylinder petrol engine, reached speeds of 15 km/h.

The age of the car really started with the development of the internal combustion engine. This development began in the 1850s, but it was not until the 1880s that small, lightweight, petrol-driven engines were perfected, first of all by Gottlieb Daimler in Germany. The first petrol-driven car was built by German engineer Karl Benz in 1885.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE

The job of the internal combustion engine is to convert the energy stored in its fuel into movement. Inside the heavy engine block are cylinders (normally four in a car engine). Pistons fit snugly inside the cylinders. When the engine is running, the pistons move up and down, turning a crankshaft (which turns the wheels) via connecting rods.

Most internal combustion engines work on a four-stroke cycle which is repeated again and again as the pistons move up and down. On the first stroke, as the piston moves down, the inlet valve opens to allow a mixture of fuel and air to be sucked into the cylinder. On the second stroke, as the piston moves up, the air and fuel is squeezed into the top of the cylinder. Now a spark is created electrically by the spark plug, igniting the fuel, which forces the cylinder down. This is the third stroke. On the fourth stroke, the exhaust valve opens to let waste gases be forced out as the piston moves up again.

THE MOTOR AGE BEGINS

Benz and Daimler started selling cars in the late 1890s. In 1891 the first car with a front engine and rear-wheel drive appeared. Early cars were tricky to operate, slow and hand-built, which made them expensive. In 1908 motoring was opened up to ordinary people with the introduction in the USA of the Model-T Ford. This small car was built on a production line, making it cheap to make and so cheap to buy.

Meanwhile, motor sports were becoming popular, with cars taking part in races and rallies, and car builders competing to build the world’s fastest car. The land-speed record was first set in 1898, at 63 kilometres per hour.

Early land-speed record-holders:

(1) Jeantaud (1899, 93.7 km/h),

(2) La Jamais Contente (1899, 105.9 km/h),

(3) Serpollet (1902, 120.8 km/h)

(4) Mors (1902, 124.1 km/h).

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MODERN CARS

All modern cars, from the smallest urban car to the fastest racing cars, have similar basic features. Wheels and suspension allow the car to roll smoothly along the road. Tyres on the wheels grip the road surface, allowing the car to accelerate, brake and corner without sliding.

Power from the engine is transferred to the wheels by the transmission, including the gears. The fuel and exhaust systems supply fuel to the engine and carry away waste gases. The electrical system supplies electricity to the engine’s spark plugs, the car’s lights and other electrical gadgets.

A stretch limousine is a chauffeur-driven luxury car used for special occasions such as weddings. Inside are large, comfortable seats, where passengers can enjoy drinks from a bar and even watch television.

All the car’s parts are supported by a rigid body shell, which also protects the driver and passengers. Modern cars have many advanced features which make them more efficient, and easier and safer to drive. These include computerized engine-management systems which control the flow of fuel to the engine, navigation computers which give the driver directions, anti-lock brakes which prevent skidding, and air bags which protect the driver in an accident. Many of these features were originally developed to improve the performance of racing cars, but have become standard on road cars.

AERODYNAMICS

The way air flows around a moving body is called aerodynamics. As cars move along, the air flowing around them tries to slow them down. The effect is called drag, and it prevents cars from continuing to speed up. The more streamlined the shape of a car, the lower the drag on it, and so the faster its top speed. Racing cars have special aerodynamic features, such as wings that create down-force. These force a car’s tyres on to the road, increasing grip and allowing the car to corner more quickly without skidding sideways.

Aerodynamics are especially important in very high-speed cars, such as Thrust SSC, which holds the land-speed record of 1227.723 km/h. It is the only car to have gone faster than sound.

All road vehicles have similar features to cars, but the features are often specialized. For example, large haulage trucks have many wheels to spread their heavy load. Off-road vehicles, such as dumper trucks, have large wheels with chunky tyres for good grip in the mud. Road-rollers have solid steel wheels.

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SUBMARINES

A submarine is a vessel that can travel submerged under the water as well as on the surface. A submarine needs an extremely strong hull to resist the pressure deep under water. Ballast tanks in the hull are filled with water to make the submarine heavier so that it dives. The tanks are “blown” with air to empty them and make the submarine surface again.

While submerged, submarines are propelled by battery-powered electric motors that do not produce dangerous exhaust fumes. On the surface, diesel engines take over. They recharge the batteries at the same time.

Huge military submarines such as USS George Washington lurk under the water and attack enemy ships with torpedoes. Nuclear-powered submarines can stay submerged for months.

A submersible such as Alvin is a miniature submarine. Submersibles are mostly used for research in the ocean depths. Robot submersibles also carry out underwater repairs on oil rigs.

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MODERN SHIPS

Modern ships and boats can be categorized by the jobs they do. Merchant ships include cruise liners, ferries, cargo ships, and utility ships, such as dredgers and tugs. Military ships include warships and support ships, called auxiliaries. There are also numerous different types of fishing boat and leisure craft, from luxury yachts to sailing dinghies.

Small cargoes are carried in standard-sized metal boxes called containers on container ships, which are loaded and unloaded at dedicated container terminals. Cargoes such as ores, coal and grain are carried by bulk carriers. Oil and other liquids are carried by tankers.

The main part of a ship is its hull, the part that sits in the water. It keeps the ship watertight and forms a strong structure that supports the other parts of the ship and its cargo. Inside the hull are horizontal decks and vertical walls called bulkheads.

The parts of a ship above the main deck are called its superstructure. Most ships have a diesel engine housed low in the hull, which drives a propeller under the stern via a shaft. A rudder at the stern steers the ship. Large ships also have small electrically powered propellers called thrusters for manoeuvring accurately in port.

The SeaCat is a high-speed vehicle ferry. It is a catamaran, which means it has two hulls. Fast ferries like this are powered by gas turbine (jet) engines, giving them top speeds in excess of 40 knots (70 km/h).

Different types of ship have their own specialized parts. For example, vehicle ferries called roll-on roll-off (ro-ro) ferries, designed for a quick turnaround in port, have huge bow or stern doors, and uncluttered decks where the vehicles park. Container ships have their own on-deck cranes for moving containers about. Aircraft carriers have a flat main deck that forms a runway where aircraft take off and land, with hangars underneath.

A giant Nimitz-class aircraft carrier dwarfs a 15th-century carrack. The nuclear-powered Nimitz- class carriers are the world’s largest. They weigh nearly 100,000 tonnes and have a flight deck 333 m long. They provide an operations base for nearly 100 attack aircraft.

Ships are controlled from a room high up near the bow, called a bridge. From here, the crew navigates from place to place, using engine and steering controls, and keeping track of their position using charts, satellite navigation systems, lighthouses and buoys. Radar helps to avoid collisions at night or in fog, and sonar warns of shallow water under the ship.

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STEAMSHIPS

During the nineteenth century, large sailing ships almost completely disappeared as steam power took over. The first successful steam-powered vessel was a river steamer built in the USA by Robert Fulton in 1808. On early steamships the steam engine turned paddle wheels that moved the ship along, but by the 1850s most ships were using propellers instead. Ocean-going steamships kept sails, too, because they could not carry enough coal or water for long-distance voyages, and their engines were not very reliable.

One of the most important sea routes in the nineteenth century was across the Atlantic from Europe to the USA. Millions of people immigrated to the USA in ships. The first regular transatlantic service, starting in 1837, was the wooden paddle-steamer Great Western, built by English engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Larger and larger ships followed, including in 1858 Brunel’s Great Eastern, easily the biggest ship in the world at the time, which could carry 4000 passengers. Both passenger ships and merchant ships continued to increase in size, especially with the introduction of steel hulls in the late nineteenth century.

By the early twentieth century, huge luxury liners were crossing the Atlantic, and steam-powered merchant ships were carrying most of the world’s cargo. The fastest liners used the new steam turbine engine, in which the steam turned a fan-like turbine, which turned the propellers at high speed.

The Grand Princess (launched 1998) is one of the largest of the new generation of cruise liners designed especially for holiday cruising. It is larger than even the biggest of the transatlantic liners. On the ship’s 18 decks there are cabins for 2600 passengers, including luxury suites with balconies, several swimming pools, bars, cafes and a theatre. At the stem is a night club suspended over the ocean.

The Queen Elizabeth was one of the largest and most luxurious liners ever built. It was 314 m long and weighed more than 80,000 tonnes. It entered transatlantic service in 1946 after carrying troops during World War II, and retired in 1968.

In the middle of the twentieth century, steam power began to give way to diesel power. Diesel engines are smaller, cleaner, far more efficient, and need fewer crew to operate them. Steam had almost completely disappeared by the 1980s.

As air travel became convenient and cheap in the 1960s, passengers stopped travelling by sea and the age of the liner came to an end. But as cruise holidays became popular in the 1980s, construction of new, giant cruise liners began.

The French liner Normandie, launched in 1935, was nearly 300 m long, accommodated 1975 passengers and needed 1345 crew. It was the first of what were called the “1000-foot” liners.

HMS Dreadnought, launched in 1906, was the first battleship driven by steam turbines.

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SAILING SHIPS

People made their first journeys across water tens of thousands of years ago. Their first craft must have been logs, used as buoyancy aids. Later, they tied logs together to make rafts, or hollowed them out to make canoes. Where there were no big trees, they made boats from locally available materials, such as reeds or animal skins. Their boats allowed them to travel on rivers and lakes, searching for better fishing, or visiting hunting grounds.

These early craft were propelled by simple paddles, or poles pushed into the river bed. The first sailing boats we know about were built in ancient Egypt in about 3500 BC. Some were built from reeds bundled together, others from wood. They had a single mast with a square sail, which was used in addition to oars when the wind was blowing in a favourable direction. The crew steered with long oars hanging over the stern (rear).

The ancient Greeks and Romans used sturdy, seaworthy cargo boats and sleek fighting boats called galleys, both with a square sail. In battle, the galleys were propelled with oars and attacked enemy ships with a ram on their bows.

About 1000 years ago, the Vikings, who lived in northern Europe, started to explore new lands. Their ships were called knorrs. Each had a hull (body of vessel) made of overlapping or “clinkered” planks.

Chinese boats called junks had sails stiffened by thick bamboo poles, and a sternpost rudder for steering. Until the 15th century they were the world’s biggest and best boats.

The arrangement of sails on a boat is called its rig. A square rig consists of sails hung on a boom across the boat (as in ancient Egyptian and Viking boats). This sort of rig cannot make the best use of wind blowing from side-on. The fore-and-aft rig, with a triangular sail hanging from a boom parallel with the boat’s sides, is more effective. The Chinese had developed a similar rig on their early junks in about 500 BC. It was developed in the Mediterranean in the third century AD. In Europe in the fifteenth century, ships began to appear with a mixture of rigs – square-rigged sails on some masts and fore-and-aft rigs on others. Through the centuries, sailing ships grew larger, with more, taller masts and more sails on each one.

The fastest sailing ships were the “clippers”, which had a huge sail area to take advantage of light winds, and streamlined hulls. They were used to carry important cargoes around the world, such as the new crop of tea from China to Europe.

By the 16th century, small, sturdy ships such as carracks and galleons were capable of long ocean crossings. With the aid of compasses to stop them accidentally sailing in circles, sailors set out from European ports to explore the world and to try to find new sea routes to the Spice Islands of Asia.

Among these explorers was the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, who left Spain in 1519 with five ships to sail to Asia around the southern tip of newly-discovered America. Magellan himself was killed in the Philippines, two years into the voyage. Only one of the ships, the Vittoria, under the captaincy of Sebastian del Cano, finally got back to Spain, 1082 days after it left. It was the first ship to circumnavigate the world.

Barques were high-capacity, multi-masted sailing ships that carried bulk cargoes such as grain between Europe, South America and Australia. A small crew could operate the barque’s simple rig. This particular barque, France II, built in 1911, was the biggest sailing ship ever built. Its steel hull was 127 metres long.

            Like rockets, jet engines propel an aeroplane with a stream of hot gases. Unlike rockets, which produce hot gas as a result of burning an explosive mixture, jet engines burn fuel in the air that they draw in at the front of the engine?

            Air enters the front of the engine and is compressor wheel. Fuel is injected into the compressed air, burns fiercely and expands. The hot gas rushes out of the jet pipe at the rear of the engine. The hot gas passes through a turbine, which drives the compressor at the front of the engine.

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               As an aeroplane moves though the air, the air passes over the surface of the wings. These are shaped with a curved top surface and a flatter lower surface, which means that air passing over the top of the wing, has to travel a little faster than that below the wing. This lowers the pressure above the wing, while the air pressure below pushes up, and the end result is the lift that keeps the aeroplane in the air.

               The tail surfaces keep the wing at the proper angle to provide the right amount of lift. The power to propel the aeroplane can come from the engines or, in the case of gliders, from rising air currents.