Difference of Helicopter, Airplane and a Drone

Last night I learned some basics of aerodynamics in a very fascinating way of how the mind can imagine.

After reading through the summary, make sure you watch the bonus video in an attempt to solidify your thoughts on the difference of how mechanically made flying objects such as airplanes, helicopters and drones could defy gravity.

So normally in order to make something fly, you need something called lift. 

Of Airplanes...

Lift is a force that counteracts gravity - it's why planes need wings to take off and stay airborne. Without wings they're just really fast buses. The wings, and the general shape of the plane, defines how aerodynamic it is - how easy it is for it to go fast, basically. By going fast, the airplane generates a steady stream of air for the wing to slice through. This is how lift is generated. It's why airplanes can't just stop in the middle of the air, and also why even if both engines die the plane can continue flying for some amount of time - it still has some speed remaining, and until that speed goes below a certain threshold (known as a stall), the wings will continue generating lift and keeping the plane up. 

 

Of Helicopters...

In contrast, helicopters don't really generate lift as much as they generate thrust. Missiles and space ships work in the same way. They simply produce a force that moves them in a certain direction - whether that's up, or sideways, or down, or whatever. If that force is strong enough to counteract gravity and air resistance, it can move wherever it wants. Think of it like letting go of a blown up balloon - it has no wings or engines, but it still moves really fast in all sorts of ways.

 

Of Drones and Quadcopters... 

Quadcopters are basically helicopters, but now there's 4 rotors (hence quad). Thus, they can do everything helicopters can do, in even crazier and faster ways.

Here's the video...

Thanks for reading,

 ~billymacdeus


ps: thank you @nexuist for the crisp but clear details.