volplane
Americanverb (used without object)
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of volplane
1905–10; < French vol plané glided flight, equivalent to vol flight (noun derivative of voler < Latin volāre to fly) + plané, past participle of planer to glide ( see plane 1)
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Meanwhile Sir Alan Cobham had been forced by a faulty spark plug to volplane to earth near Nuneaton.
From Time Magazine Archive
A narrow, flat, ten-foot object, like a wingless volplane.
From Astounding Stories of Super-Science, May, 1930 by Harry Bates
They were then at an altitude of a mile, and inability to start the motor made it necessary for them to volplane to the earth.
From The Boy Volunteers with the French Airman by Kenneth Ward
But to volplane here would mean certain death.
From The Boy Scouts of the Air in Indian Land by Gordon Stuart
Without a moment's delay Barcroft switched off the ignition and commenced a volplane.
From Billy Barcroft, R.N.A.S. A story of the Great War by Percy F. (Percy Francis) Westerman
Gladwin volplaned to earth, climbed out of his sky chariot and was back in the midst of his art treasures again.
From Officer 666 by Barton Wood Currie
He climbed, swooped, spiraled, volplaned, and rose again, executing a series of evolutions that would have won him fame at any aero meet.
From Darkness and Dawn by George Allan England
Having made certain that the monitor had gauged the required distance the sea-plane volplaned to within a thousand feet of the ground.
From Rounding up the Raider A Naval Story of the Great War by Percy F. (Percy Francis) Westerman
Then, climbing to a safe altitude he again volplaned in the hope of being guided by the sound of the bombardment.
From Billy Barcroft, R.N.A.S. A story of the Great War by Percy F. (Percy Francis) Westerman
The machine volplaned to earth a few hundred yards from where we were, and the pilot was made prisoner.
From A Journal From Our Legation in Belgium by Hugh Gibson
We have the devotees of St. Vitus' dance called Jazz . . . volplaning down the descending scale.
From Time Magazine Archive
But, as he was volplaning, this cut down the speed, and from a height of ten feet above a field the machine dropped to the ground with a flat plop.
From The Trail of the Hawk A Comedy of the Seriousness of Life by Sinclair Lewis
He should be able to tell by ear, when volplaning, whether or not he is maintaining sufficient speed to hold it in the air.
From Opportunities in Aviation by Arthur Sweetser
The injured seaplane was volplaning in wide circles.
From Billy Barcroft, R.N.A.S. A story of the Great War by Percy F. (Percy Francis) Westerman
Suddenly, the rear bird shot downward, volplaning and looping the loop with as much abandon as if he were in an exhibition park.
From S.O.S. Stand to! by Reginald Grant
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