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What makes apples fall from trees? What stops you from floating off into space? Gravity – the force that pulls or attracts a body towards the centre of the Earth.Tightrope walkers understand this better than anyone else. Precariously navigating a rope that seems as fine as a thread, with just a balancing pole as an aid, these stunt artists are able to entertain us because they understand the simple concept of the centre of gravity (CG).
On a plane, this concept is equally important. A conventional aircraft normally has a forward CG. This is designed in such a way that should anything happen to the engines, the nose of the aircraft would dip downwards, allowing the plane to glide like a paper plane.
Most planes glide well. For example, an Airbus A330 can glide without engines for about 160 kilometres from a height of 40,000 feet! This was proven when, in 2001, an Air Transat (a Canadian airline) plane ran out of fuel due to a ruptured fuel line while flying from Toronto to Lisbon in Portugal. The pilots made history by flying the plane without power and gliding to land safely on an island in the Azores region in the Atlantic Ocean.