Example sentences
fēi飞jī机jǐ几diǎn点qǐ起fēi飞？
When does the plane take off?
wǒ我zuò坐fēi飞jī机huí回jiā家。
I fly home.
About this word
飞 is "to fly" and 机 is "machine", so the word is a "flying machine". 机 is the general word for a machine or device, and it heads a long list of compounds: 手机 mobile phone, 照相机 camera, 洗衣机 washing machine, 计算机 computer, 打印机 printer. It also names the person who operates one, as in 司机 driver, "the one in charge of the machine". One grammar note: 飞机 is a noun, so "to fly somewhere" comes out as 坐飞机去, "go by plane", using the verb 坐.
The story behind the character
飞
The traditional 飛 is two birds with wings spread, mid-flight. The simplified 飞 flattened it. Xu Shen wrote 飞, 鸟翥也. 翥 is a bird climbing upward.
机
机 is 木 (wood) with 几 on the right giving the sound. The traditional form is 機, and its first meaning was the trigger of a crossbow, a small wooden mechanism that releases the shot. Xu Shen wrote 機，主發謂之機: the thing in charge of releasing. Every machine since is a descendant of that trigger.