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How does a plane create a wind of its own?
Airplanes create wind, or move air, in a couple different ways – by generating thrust and disturbing the air around them. The generation of thrust in the forward direction creates an equal amount of wind (exhaust) in the opposite direction, a result of Newton’s third law. Propeller thrust creates a wind behind the propeller with its rotary motion through the air. Jet engine thrust creates a wind flowing out the back opening, resulting from the air flowing through the engine.
As the plane is pushed forward by the force of thrust, it disturbs the air in its path. Some of this air flows over the top of the wing. This movement of air could be called wind, and is important because it creates lift, the force that pushes the airplane up, as explained by the Bernoulli principle.
Airplanes also create wind with their actual movement through air. As a plane is pushed forward by thrust, air molecules move along with it. If you were close enough to the plane as it passed by, you would feel the air underneath the plane for a few seconds after the airplane passed you. This draft of air is similar to one you would feel on a train platform as a train goes by, or if a fast car drove past you. The wind is the effect of the object’s disturbance on the stationary air.
