the.com/aircraft
A machine that argues with gravity and, briefly, wins.
means Any vehicle that flies by generating lift, from balloons and gliders to jets and helicopters.
from A nineteenth-century compound of air plus craft, the latter meaning a vessel — borrowed wholesale from watercraft once humans started sailing the sky instead of the sea.
Stays singularOne aircraft, ten aircraft — never aircrafts.
Lift, not enginesWings make planes fly; engines just supply speed.
Lighter or heavierBalloons float; planes force their way up.