Can a plane fly without an engine? Kuya Kim explains

Filipino pilot Chezka Gonzales recently went viral for reportedly flying in a small plane that had no engine. But is it even possible for a plane to fly without one?

According to #KuyaKimAnoNa on “24 Oras” Wednesday, there are indeed aircraft that do not need an engine to fly, and these are called sailplanes.

Pilot Rold Dunder said a sailplane was a kind of glider plane, which moved with the air and wind surrounding it, like a paper plane.

“The glider is controlled with the same radars and the same aerodynamics rule. The only difference is that because the glider doesn’t have an engine, it gets its speed by constantly gliding,” he said.

Kuya Kim explained that a sailplane required two things for it to fly—a steel cable and a glider winch.

“Para umangat sa ere, may nakakabit ditong steel cable na parang tali, at saka hihilahin ng makina na tinatawag na glider winch para lumipad na parang saranggola,” he said.

“’Pag nasa 280 feet na ang taas o katumbas ng 25-story building, kakalasin ang tali niyo para ito ay mag-glide sa hangin at onti-onting mag-landing na parang eroplanong papel.”

In Tuy, Batangas, Dunder offers the only gliding adventure in the Philippines. It lasts for 20 minutes.

Airplanes have long been used as a mode of transportation for long distance travel, but do you know who is the first Filipino to ride one? He was an Igorot chieftain named Gagaban.

Gagaban joined the first Filipino commercial flight named Shiver’s Skylark and Red Devil Biplane in 1911. The flight’s captain was American pilot Lee Hammond.

Meanwhile, it’s believed that birds called buzzards were what inspired the Wright brothers to build the first aircraft. Called the Wright Flyer, it flew for the first time in December 1903.

The plane flew using a technique modeled after birds called wing warping, or twisting of an airplane’s wing to control how it moved. – Franchesca Viernes/RC, GMA News