heavier-than-air


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Related to heavier-than-air: Heavier-than-air flight

heav·i·er-than-air

(hĕv′ē-ər-thən-âr′)
adj.
Of, relating to, or being an aircraft heavier than the air it displaces.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

heavier-than-air

adj
1. (General Physics) having a density greater than that of air
2. (Aeronautics) of or relating to an aircraft that does not depend on buoyancy for support but gains lift from aerodynamic forces
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

heav′i•er-than-air′



adj.
(of an aircraft) weighing more than the air it displaces, hence having to obtain lift by aerodynamic means.
[1900–05]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adj.1.heavier-than-air - relating to an aircraft heavier than the air it displaces
aircraft - a vehicle that can fly
heavy - of comparatively great physical weight or density; "a heavy load"; "lead is a heavy metal"; "heavy mahogany furniture"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
References in periodicals archive ?
The attempt will take place today, the 110th anniversary of Louis Bleriot's 1909 channel crossing, which was the first time anyone had crossed the channel in a heavier-than-air aircraft.
The attempt coincided with the 110th anniversary of Louis Bleriot's 1909 channel crossing, which was the first time anyone had crossed the channel in a heavier-than-air aircraft.
If it lifts off as planned, it will be the first heavier-than-air object to fly on another planet.
| December 17 WHEN the Wright brothers completed the first heavier-than-air manned flight today in 1903, it was Orville at the controls.
Also sold were a fragment from the propeller and a section of the wing from the Wright brothers' Flyer, the first heavier-than-air self-powered aircraft, which each sold for $275,000.
Kelvin predicted, "X-rays will prove to be a hoax." And he told us, "I can state flatly that heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible."
NASA is sending a light, autonomous rotorcraft, dubbed the Mars Helicopter, to demonstrate the viability of heavier-than-air vehicles on Mars and get a bird's eye view of the red planet. 
They certainly do not personally sustain heavier-than-air flight.
As National Park Ranger Stephanie Powell tells you: "They achieved the first heavier-than-air, powered and controlled human flight.
They made the first controlled, sustained flight of a powered, heavier-than-air aircraft on that momentous day four miles south of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in the United States.