A long-haul jet can weigh more than 300 tonnes, about fifty big elephants, and it's held up by nothing but air. In this video we explain flight in plain words: how a wing works (no equal-transit myth), how jet engines push a plane forward, how pilots steer, why turbulence isn't dangerous to the plane, why airliners fly so high, and why a jet with no engines doesn't fall. It becomes a glider, and that has really happened.

0:00 Why don't planes fall?
0:17 Heavier than 50 elephants
0:29 The hand-out-the-window secret
0:50 How a wing pushes air down
1:12 The air pressure view (and a popular myth)
1:43 Kites do it too
1:53 Try it at your desk
2:06 Why planes need speed
2:29 Paper planes and gliding
2:40 The four forces
3:03 How a jet engine works
3:56 How pilots steer
5:01 What turbulence really is
5:56 What if the engines stop?
6:33 It really happened: the Gimli Glider
7:17 Why planes fly so high
7:55 Recap

Sources:
NASA Glenn Research Center, Beginner's Guide to Aeronautics (Lift from Flow Turning; Incorrect Lift Theory; The Lift Equation; Turbofan Engine): https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/
FAA, Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (FAA-H-8083-25C), chapters 5–6 (flight controls, flaps and slats)
US Code of Federal Regulations, 14 CFR Part 25, sections 25.303, 25.305 and 25.337 (load factors and safety margin): https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/chap...
Boeing press releases, 28 Mar and 7 Apr 2010 (787 ultimate-load wing test)
FAA, "Turbulence: Staying Safe"
Canada, Board of Inquiry into Air Canada Flight 143 (Lockwood, 1985), the "Gimli Glider"
GPIAA (Portugal), final report 22/ACCID/2001 (Air Transat Flight 236)
ICAO, Manual of the ICAO Standard Atmosphere (Doc 7488)
Boeing and Airbus airport-planning documents (maximum take-off weights)

Footage: Pixabay. Narration voice is AI-generated.

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