Interactive 3D model
Physics of flight
A 64-tonne airliner stays up because its wings turn the passing air downwards, and the air pushes back. The engines only provide the speed. Lift, weight, thrust and drag decide whether the plane climbs, glides, turns or stalls.
Here you fly an A320-like airliner yourself: change the angle of the wing, the thrust, the height and the flaps, cut the wing open to see the airflow, and watch contrails form, or not. Pick a question below for a guided tour, or explore the model freely.
Free · no account · runs in your browser
01Questions
What do you want to find out?
Each question is a short guided tour in the 3D model.
- Question 1
How do planes fly?
Find out what really holds a 64-tonne airliner up, why the air over the wing doesn't wait for the air below, and what happens when both engines stop.
8 steps · BeginnerStart - Question 2
Why do planes leave trails, and only on some days?
Find out what the white lines behind planes are made of, and why they vanish in seconds on one day and stay for hours on the next.
8 steps · BeginnerStart - Question 3
What causes a plane to stall?
Push an airliner past the critical angle of attack, see the air break away from the wing, and find out why full power and a fast turn don't protect it.
8 steps · BeginnerStart - Question 4
How fast do planes fly?
Push an A320 towards the speed of sound and watch the drag shoot up, then find out what really lifts it off the runway at about 280 km/h.
8 steps · BeginnerStart - Question 5
How high do planes fly?
Take an A320 down into thick air and back up to 13 km, and find out why airliners cruise near 11 km and why they don't fly higher.
8 steps · BeginnerStart - Question 6
What are wingtip vortices?
Watch the air wind into two spirals behind an A320's wingtips, then slow it down and load it up to find out what makes them strong.
7 steps · BeginnerStart - Question 7
What do flaps do on a plane?
Extend an A320's flaps and slats, slow it down to landing speed and find out why flaps are not air brakes.
8 steps · BeginnerStart
02About this model
How this was made
This simulation was made with AI: an AI researched the topic and wrote the code of the 3D model. Before it goes online, an automated test checks every control, view and part. But AI makes mistakes, so details in the model can be wrong. The flight also follows a simplified model: the forces come from textbook relations and typical airliner values, and the plane settles into each new state within seconds instead of oscillating. The airflow in the cut-open wing is an idealised 2D flow. The smoke lines around the plane come from a simple vortex model of the wing and fuselage; the wing's vortices are drawn twice as strong as the real ones, so the faster flow over the wing, the downwash and the wingtip vortices show. The separated flow past the stall is drawn schematically. There is no wind. If you spot a mistake, write to us: office@soticek.com
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