Types of planes

These are the types of planes with the correct pictures and facts for
6th Grade Pupil’s Book • UNIT 4 - The history of the aeroplane • Lesson 2, p.43

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1) Passenger and cargo planes

These planes carry passengers and cargo. Their speed is just below the speed of sound (350-750 MPH). Their engines are very powerful and they can travel very quickly with many people and goods.

A British Airways Boeing 747 passenger plane.

A Boeing 747 Cargo plane. Notice that there are no windows on the fuselage

2) Supersonic planes

1,235 km/h or 760 MPH is the speed of sound. These planes can fly up to three times the speed of sound . They have a special engine and they are designed with lightweight materials.

A British Airways Concorde. It had a top speed of Mach 2 or 2.179 km/h or 1.300 MPH

The SR-71B Blackbird holds the record for the fastest plane.
It could travel at 3 times the speed of sound or 3,500 km/h or 2200MPH. It was a spy plane.

3) Rockets

Rockets fly at speeds 5 to 25 times the speed of sound as they orbit around the earth. They have a very powerful engine in order to travel at this speed.

The Space Shuttle Discovery 
and its seven-member crew liftoff 
from Kennedy Space Center's 
launch pad on 28th October 2007.

Space shuttle Endeavour docked to the
International Space Station in orbit around the Earth. 

4) Propeller aircraft 

Propeller aircraft use one or more propellers to create thrust in a forward direction. Most of these planes can fly at 100-350 MPH. Examples of this kind of planes are the two- and four-seater passenger planes and seaplanes that can land on water.

A two-seater plane

A four-seater plane

A seaplane

Now look at the pictures of the planes, read the information and decide if statements 1-5 are True or false:

1. The Boeing travels very fast.
2. Rockets fly 4 times the speed of sound.
3. The seaplane can land on water.
4. The Concorde travels below the speed of sound.
5. The Concorde is faster than the SR-71B Blackbird.