Superman Science: The Real-World Science Behind Superman's Powers
CHAPTER 1 SOARING THE SKIES SUPERMAN AND THE SCIENCE OF FLIGHT
Section 1 Flight Lessons One second Clark Kent peels off his shirt and tie The next Superman soars over Metropolis Flight is child’s play for Superman but it challenged scientists and engineers for centuries Now their discoveries in flight science allow us to touch the clouds The Physics of Flight Flight takes many forms Birds flap their wings and airplanes use jet engines But both must deal with gravity Gravity is the force that pulls all objects toward Earth Everything dropped launched or flown falls to Earth unless it overcomes gravity To do that fliers must employ thrust to move them forward through the air Aircraft get thrust from their powerful engines Birds experience thrust when they flap their wings
But forward thrust alone won’t keep fliers airborne They must also create lift or an upward force to overcome gravity Birds and planes have shaped wings to help create lift but they only work when moving An airplane doesn’t create lift if its engines fail to push it forward And while birds can glide without flapping gravity pulls them down as their thrust decreases Commercial jets use powerful engines and shaped wings to achieve the thrust and lift necessary for liftoff Low Energy Lift Eagles and other birds of prey are experts at creating lift with little effort Their heavy bodies make flapping tiresome Instead these birds seek out thermal currents Without flapping they ride rising pockets of warm air upward for hundreds of feet
