what's the difference between an airplane and a helicopter
Airplanes are basically fixed wings aircraft where as helicopter are called rotor craft or rotary-wing aircraft. Airplane wings are shaped in airfoil shape to provide lift where as helicopter fan blades are shaped in airfoil shape to provide lift.
Given above is the definition of Aircraft from Wikipedia. It means that Helicopter is an aircraft. Airplane wings are shaped in airfoil shape to provide lift where as helicopter fan blades are shaped in airfoil shape to provide lift.
Helos have rotary blades that provide both lift and propulsion. That's the main difference, but there are many others; for instance, for twin seaters, a plane captain will seat on the left when a chopper captain sits on the right. On average, a plane requires less maintenance per hour of flight than a helicopter.