Aircraft

An aircraft or aerial vehicle is a vehicle that can fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, in a few cases, direct downward thrust from its engines. Common examples of aircraft include airplanes, drones, rotorcraft (including helicopters), airships (including blimps), gliders, paramotors, and hot air balloons. Part 1 (Definitions and Abbreviations) of Subchapter A of Chapter I of Title 14 of the U. S. Code of Federal Regulations states that aircraft "means a device that is used or intended to be used for flight in the air". The human activity that surrounds aircraft is called aviation. The science of aviation includes the designing and building of aircraft, which is called aeronautics. A crewed aircraft is flown by an onboard pilot, whereas an unmanned aerial vehicle may be remotely controlled or autonomous, controlled by onboard computers. Aircraft may be classified by different criteria, such as lift type, propulsion (if any), usage and others.