> > Marvin Long wrote:
> > Really, the only difference you can possibly hang this
> > debate on is the Wright brothers' launch by catapult.
> > One might argue that the only real
> > airplane is one that can take off under its own power, but
> > that's mostly just a matter of having a better (more
> > expensive) engine and wheels, and it doesn't involve any of
> > the factors that distinguish an airplane from a
> > dirigible, say: heavier than air, lift gained from
> > airfoils, movable control surfaces, self-propelled, etc.
> >
>Alberto Moneiro replied:
>But being self-launched is that distinguishes an airplane
>from a glider.
>
>Alberto Monteiro
So the fighter jets that are launched by catapult from aircraft carriers
aren't airplanes? The Merriam Webster Dictionary (50th anniversary edition)
defines an airplane as "a powered heavier-than-air aircraft that has fixed
wings from which it derives lift." Of course, by that definition, movable
wing airplanes aren't airplanes either...
At any rate, the thing that decides whether an aircraft is an airplane vs. a
glider is that airplanes are powered. How they are launched makes no
difference.
Reggie Bautista
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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