Template:Aircraft types (by method of thrust and lift)
| Aerostat | Aerodyne | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lift: Lighter than air gas | Lift: Fixed wing | Lift: Unpowered rotor | Lift: Powered rotor | |
| Unpowered free flight | (free) Balloon | Glider | (None - no lift) | (None - see note 2) |
| Tethered or towed | Moored balloon | Kite | Rotor kite | (None - see note 2) |
| Powered | Airship | Aeroplane, Ornithopter etc | Autogyro | Helicopter, Gyrodyne |
Note 1: A tiltwing or tiltrotor aircraft functions as an aeroplane during normal (horizontal) flight and as helicopter during low-speed flight.
Note 2: For full-size aircraft with powered rotors the rotor is normally tilted to achieve thrust (i.e. a helicopter). Some toys (e.g. Balloon helicopter) do have a powered rotor with no means to tilt the rotor to produce horizontal thrust.
Note 3: Ground effect vehicles and hovercraft are not included in the table, nor are experimental aircraft with novel thrust / lift solutions (e.g. Coleopter, Flying bedstead, Avrocar , Flettner airplane and balloon-wing hybrids such as the Kytoon, Hybrid airship and Hybrid moored balloon).
