What was the first plane made out of?

Answer 1

Wood, canvas, fiberglass, carbon fiber, stainless steel, aluminum, steel, titanium alloy and even rubber have all been used as structural elements in aircraft.

Piston engines are typically made mostly from aluminum and steel by weight with smaller components made from other materials.

Jet engines are made from steel for shafts and bearings, titanium for fan blades, disks and low pressure compressor blades and extensive use of nickel superalloys for the combustor, seals and turbine components. Newer turbofans, like on large airliners, have composite fan blades and composite containment structures to contain engine components in the event of a rotating component failure.

Answer 2

An aircraft is made by first designing and engineering it. Lots and lots of considerations are evaluated, and in the end, the design will reflect the use to which the aircraft will be put and the construction limitations. Commercial jet liner? Military stealth fighter? Helicopter (rotorcraft)? Single-seat home-brew fixed-wing kit airplane? Once design is finished, the materials will be gathered and construction will begin. It's a lot different building a jumbo jet than assembling an ultralight. Once construction is complete, certification, testing and evaluation are done. Then the craft is put into service. The broad nature of the question means a general (short) answer is (probably) the best that can be supplied.

Answer 3

Modern aircraft are made mostly of aluminum. There are a lot of other materials that can be used, and composites like carbon fiber are increasingly used. We even saw titanium used on the skin of the Blackbird, the SR-71. But aluminum is, by and large, the most common structural component of contemporary aircraft, at least over the last 20 years. The process of making a plane begins with a design concept for an aircraft. The design will be presented to fit a market, and by considering how many different aircraft are out there, you can imagine the challenge of finding a niche. The plane will incorporate a variety of materials and elements according to what the aircraft is to be used for and how it must perform. With a concept on the board, the engineers get to work translating the design into a working model. Then it is prototyped up and tested. This is the thumbnail sketch, and aircraft development can take anything from a few years to something as short as months, depending on the design and who is building (and paying for!) it.

Answer 4

They are usually made out of balsa wood or Styrofoam with a mylar skin. But people have made them out of just about everything.

Answer 5

That depends on the airplane.

Answer 6

wood?!?!?!?!?!!?