The metal birds in the sky

By Taha Khan

Airplanes are amazing and unique machines that can fly in the sky. The Wright Brothers were the first to create a prototype airplane in 1903. But the Boeing 247, made by William Boeing, was the first aircraft to have a fully metal body, curved wings, and retractable landing gear. Since then, many companies like McDonnell Douglas, Lockheed Martin, and Embraer have made passenger airplanes, but not all of them were successful.

These airplanes had different engine options, including two engines, three engines, or four engines. In 1970, a new company called Airbus introduced the Airbus A300, which was the first wide-bodied airplane with two engines. Airbus was formed by four European countries—France, the UK, Germany, and Spain—to compete with American plane makers. Since then, both Airbus and Boeing have dominated the market and competed with each other.

After the year 2000, both companies created new airplanes. Boeing focused on making planes that used fuel more efficiently and invented the Boeing 747. Airbus, on the other hand, decided to make a larger plane called the Airbus A380 to compete with Boeing’s jumbo jet, the 747. However, as fuel prices increased in 2010, airlines preferred twin-engine planes over four-engine planes like the A380 or 747 because twin-engine planes were more fuel efficient.

My personal favourite airplane to date is the Airbus A350-1000.