General

The airframe of a fixed-wing aircraft consists of five principal units: the fuselage, wings, stabilizers, flight control surfaces, and landing gear.

Powerplant

The powerplant includes both the engine and the propeller. The primary function of the engine is to provide the power to turn the propeller. It can also be used to generate electrical power, provide a vacuum source for some flight instruments, and in most single-engine airplanes, it also provides a source of heat for the pilot and passengers. The engine is covered by a nacelle to streamline the flow of air around the engine

Fuselage

The fuselage is the central body of an airplane and is designed to accommodate the crew, passengers, and cargo. It also provides the structural connection for the wings and tail assembly. Older types of aircraft design utilized an open truss structure constructed of wood, steel, or aluminum tubing. The fuselage of today’s aircraft generally employs monocoque or semimonocoque construction.

Monocoque

Monocoque construction uses stressed skin to support almost all loads much like an aluminum beverage can. Although very strong, monocoque construction is not highly tolerant to deformation of the surface

Semimonocoque

Semimonocoque construction uses a substructure to which the airplane’s skin is attached. The substructure, which consists of bulkheads, formers of various sizes and stringers, reinforces the stressed skin by taking some of the bending stress from the fuselage.

Wings

The wings are airfoils attached to each side of the fuselage and are the main lifting surfaces that support the airplane in flight

Empennage

The empennage includes the entire tail group and consists of fixed surfaces, such as the vertical stabilizer and the horizontal stabilizer. The movable surfaces include the rudder, the elevator, and one or more trim tabs.

Landing Gear

The landing gear is the principal support of the airplane when parked, taxiing, taking off, or landing. Wheeled landing gear consists of three wheels – two main wheels and a third wheel positioned either at the front or rear of the airplane. A landing gear with a rear mounted wheel is called conventional landing gear. A landing gear with a forward mounted wheel is called a tricycle landing gear.