飞机(airplane)
用螺旋桨或高速喷射发动机推进和藉空气升力支持的各种重於空气的定翼航空器。飞机之主要组件为支持飞行之机翼，平衡机翼之机尾，控制飞行高度之机翼活动部分（副翼、升降舵和舵），推进飞机之动力机，承载机员、乘客和货物之机身，驾驶员、领航员使用之控制及导航仪器，与支撑飞机之起落架。1840年代一些英国、法国的发明家开始设计了以发动机为动力的飞机，但第一个用动力作持续而可控制的飞行是由莱特兄弟在1903年达成的。後来飞机设计受喷射发动机的发展影响，大部分现代的飞机有一个长鼻机身，向後斜的机翼带有喷射发动机安置在飞机中段部分，尾部是安定器。大部分飞机是设计从陆地起飞，水上飞机（Seaplane）适合在水面上稍作停留，运输机则可作高速而短暂的起降动作。亦请参阅airfoil、aviation、glider、helicopter。
English version：
airplane
Fixed-wing aircraft that is heavier than air, propelled by a screw propeller or a high-velocity jet, and supported by the dynamic reaction of the air against its wings. An airplane's essential components are the body or fuselage, a flight-sustaining wing system, stabilizing tail surfaces, altitude-control devices such as rudders, a thrust-providing power source, and a landing support system. Beginning in the 1840s, several British and French inventors produced designs for engine-powered aircraft, but the first powered, sustained, and controlled flight was only achieved by Wilbur and Orville Wright in 1903. Later airplane design was affected by the development of the jet engine; most airplanes today have a long nose section, swept-back wings with jet engines placed behind the plane's midsection, and a tail stabilizing section. Most airplanes are designed to operate from land; seaplanes are adapted to touch down on water, and carrier-based planes are modified for high-speed short takeoff and landing. See also air foil, aviation, glider, helicopter.
