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Configuration - Overview
Conventional Configurations
Variations regarding powerplant & intake location, vertical wing position, tail unit layout and landing gear.
Unconventional Layouts
Biplanes, variable sweep, canard designs, twin booms, multi-hulls, span-loaders, joined wing and blended wing body designs.
Cases Studies
P-51 Mustang, Mitsubishi Zero, Chance-Vought Corsair.
Configuration Overview
Ugly is Most of Time not Good
Conventional Configuration
Cantilevered monoplane wing. Separate horizontal and vertical tail surfaces. Control via ailerons, elevators and rudder. Discrete fuselage to provide volume and continuity to airframe. Retractable tricycle landing gear. Minimum number of powerplants needed to meet power and operational requirements.
Conventional Configuration
Examples
Embraer Legacy
Boeing 747
Boeing F-18
Lockheed Constellation
Convair B-36
Boeing 727
Avro Lancaster
SAAB Draken
Conventional Configuration
Within the category of conventional aircraft there are many variations from the standard to be considered:
Powerplant Location nose, wing podded, rear fuselage podded, internal. Intake Location nose, side, ventral, dorsal. Wing Vertical Location high, low, mid. Tail Unit Arrangements variable incidence, all-moving, T-tail, multi-finned, butterfly. Tricycle Landing Gear Configuration numbers of legs, bogeys and wheels.
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Powerplant Location
Nose-Mounted
Most logical position for any single tractor propeller engine aircraft. Piper Arrow
Advantages include symmetry of layout, good propeller clearance, access and maintainability.
Powerplant Location
Nose-Mounted: Chance-Vought F4U Corsair
The F4U incorporated the largest engine available at the time, the 2,000 hp (1,490 kW) 18cylinder Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp radial. To extract as much power as possible, a relatively large, 13 ft, 4 inch (4.06 m) Hamilton Standard Hydromatic three-blade propeller was used. To accommodate a folding wing, the designers considered retracting the main landing gear rearward, but for the chord of wing selected, it was difficult to fit undercarriage struts long enough to provide sufficient clearance for the large propeller. Their solution was an inverted gull wing, a similar layout to the one used by Germany's Stuka dive bomber, considerably shortening the length of the main gear legs The anhedral of the wing's centersection also permitted the wing and fuselage to meet at the optimum angle for minimizing drag, without the need for wing root fairings. Offsetting these benefits, the bent wing was more difficult to construct and would weigh more than a straight one.
Powerplant Location
Wing-Mounted (Outer Wing)
Many uses:
Large aircraft with propellers, turbojets or turbofans. For jets/fans, these will be podded and mounted onto
under-wing pylons. For props, these will be mounted directly onto the wing structure.
Advantages include:
Versatility use of alternative engines. Compact overall layout. Inertial relief reducing required wing structural mass. Ease of access for maintenance.
Powerplant Location
Wing-Mounted (not directly in wing) cont.
Also several drawbacks and necessary considerations: Ground clearance may be a problem in which case high wings may be used (with tall landing gear) or possibly top-wing mounting (e.g. BAe 748) with aerodynamic penalty. Spanwise location should depend on propeller diameter or statistical analysis of fan burst trajectory and impact on neighbor. Typical values are 30% and 55% semi-span for a 4engine design; large values give big engine-out yaw problems and larger rudder sizes.
Powerplant Location
Over/Under-wing Mounted - Examples
Lockheed Constellation
VFW 614
Powerplant Location
Integrated into Wing
Embraer EMB-120 Braslia
Grumman Tracker
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Powerplant Location
Buried in wings
Some aircraft have housed the powerplants in the wing root area with significant structural disadvantages.
Powerplant Location
Rear Fuselage-Podded
Used on many moderate sized transport aircraft of the past and also many modern small business jet aircraft. Advantages
Reduced engine-out yaw smaller rudder size.
Disadvantages
Rearwards movement of CG stability problems. Structural acoustic fatigue. Difficult to inspect during turn around time.
Powerplant Location
Rear Fuselage Podded - Examples
A-10 Thunderbolt
Vickers VC-10
Powerplant Location
Middle of Fuselage
Heinkel He 162
Powerplant Location
Example of Aircraft Engine Located Above the Fuselage
Due to the PiperJets unique engine installation in the tail, ground personnel can walk around the aircraft without being exposed to its jet blast. With the engine thrust line well above the aircrafts center of gravity, Piper engineers are working on developing a system that automatically compensates horizontal stabilizer position for the changing pitching moments introduced through changes in engine power.
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Powerplant Location
Example of Aircraft Engine Located Above the Fuselage
Powerplant Location
Wing-Podded
Possible problem
vs. Fuselage-Podded
Good
Good
Acoustic Fatigue
Possible problem for fuselage Possible problem
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Crash Safety
Powerplant Location
Wing-Podded vs. Fuselage-Podded
In/on/under the Wing At Rear Fuselage Propulsive Efficiency
Good OK if well positioned
Longitudinal Stability
Good Problems due to aft CG & short tail arm
Tip Stall
Good
Poor
Possible problem
Asymmetric Thrust
Good
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Powerplant Location
Wing-Podded
Good
vs. Fuselage-Podded
Weight
Poor
Engine Maintenance
Good High off ground
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Powerplant Location
Internally Housed
Used on many single and twin turbojet/turbofan engine aircraft such as military trainers and fighters. Advantages
Disadvantages
Engine removal and maintenance problems. Structural acoustic fatigue due to jet efflux. Jet pipe length minimized by moving engine rearwards
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Powerplant Location
Internally Housed - Examples
Sepecat Jaguar
SAAB Gripen
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Powerplant Location
Internally Housed - Installation
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Intake Location
Nose Intake
Used on many early jet fighters with mid-fuselage mounted engines. Requires use of long inlet ducts and jet pipes gives low flow distortion but high total pressure losses.
Intake Location
Examples of Aircraft with Nose Intakes
MiG-19 Farmer
MiG-21 Fishbed
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Intake Location
Side Intake (Below Wing)
Used on the majority of modern high-wing strike and combat aircraft designs. Leaves the nose area free for radar equipment installation. The wing is often extended above the intakes to improve high- performance. Flow diverters are needed to accommodate fuselage boundary layer growth.
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Intake Location
Examples of Side Intakes (Below Wing)
Tornado ADV
Intake Location
Side Intake (Above Wing)
Used on many low-wing design trainer and combat aircraft. Wings may be used to shield the intakes and reduce the maneuvering .
Any sharps bends have to be avoided to prevent flow distortions. Short intake lengths are possible with low overall volume requirements.
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Intake Location
Examples of Side Intakes (Above Wing)
F-4 Phantom
T45A Goshawk
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Intake Location
Ventral Intake
Situated on underside of fuselage - an increasingly common position for high performance combat aircraft.
maneuverability.
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Intake Location
Examples of Aircraft with Ventral Intakes
Eurofighter 2000
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Intake Location
Dorsal Intake
Situated on top-side of fuselage.
Only tends to be used on 3-engine airliners with 3rd engine buried in the rear fuselage/fin area with a few exceptions.
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Intake Location
Examples of Aircraft with Dorsal Intakes
Cirrus Jet
Gives an efficient spanwise lift distribution leading to low lift-induced drag. Improves lateral static stability. Preferred for most freight and military transport aircraft:
Low floor line for easy loading & unloading.
landing gear.
Good ground clearance for powerplants, especially props.
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Wing Location
Examples of Low Wing Aircraft
Boeing 777
Boeing 737
Approximately 70% of aircraft in service have a conventional arrangement comprising separate fixed horizontal stabilizer and vertical fin surfaces for stability and moving elevator and rudder sections attached to fixed surfaces for control. This is the simplest solution & provides optimum overall performance in the majority of cases.
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Airbus A380
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Here the forward (main) section of the horizontal surface is not fixed but is capable of rotation through a small range of angles of attack. As such, it is generally used to adjust pitch trim rather than using the conventional elevators.
It is especially useful for countering the effects of significant pitching moment increments caused by deployment of powerful high lift devices. Elevators are still used for pitch control.
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Boeing 757-200
Sabre
Dassault Falcon 20
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Whole of the horizontal tailplane surface is used for both pitch control and trim (with no separate hinged elevator). This offers significant advantages at transonic and supersonic speeds when effectiveness of conventional trailing edge surfaces is dramatically reduced. Universally adopted for supersonic fighter designs. Most also use differential movement of opposite sides to improve roll rate (then known as tailerons). Powered controls are necessary due to the large control force requirements.
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Tornado GR1
F-5 Tiger
A5 Vigilante
A7 Corsair
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Horizontal tailplane mounted on top of fin. Often used on large high-mounted sweptwing designs and also smaller low-wing aircraft.
Provides substantial end-plating effect to fin, improving its effectiveness and reducing the fin size requirement. Lifts the horizontal tail clear of any propwash & the wing wake during cruise flight, therefore reducing buffet and fatigue. Allows engines to be mounted on the aftfuselage, if required.
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If fin-sizing exercise results in large single fin dimensions then sometimes preferable to use two (or more) smaller fins instead. Allowed Constellation to operate from existing hangars. Also produces desirable end-plating effect to horizontal tailplane, reducing its size requirements.
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Lockheed Constellation
B-24 Liberator
Avro Lancaster
Lockheed A-29
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MiG-29 Fulcrum
F-15 Eagle
F-14 Tomcat
F-18 Hornet
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Disadvantages include:
Cross-coupling of stability/control characteristics; handling
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Surfaces should generally be positioned as far aft as possible to maximize the tail moment arm. Restrictions on this may be caused by engine-induced structural fatigue (e.g. F-5).
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Hawker Hunter
Cessna 172N
BAe Hawk
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Two-axle bogie Three-axle bogie Three or four main legs Multiple legs on single axes
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The main legs are split into two-axle bogies, with usually two wheels per axle. Such as arrangement is generally necessary if the aircraft mass is between about 90 and 200 tones. It is common to many civil and military transport aircraft types.
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Airbus A310
Airbus A330
Boeing C-135
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For very large aircraft (e.g. > 210 tones), the load has to be spread even further one option is to use a 3-axle bogie arrangement.
On the Boeing 777, the extra axle is put in the centre of the bogie.
On the C-5 the extra axle is put sideby-side with the rear axle the aircraft has 28 wheels in total!
Both have main bogie steering to reduce turn radius & tyre scrubbing.
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Boeing 777
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This will generally be the case for very large civil transports (> 300 tones) with low wing designs (e.g. Boeing 747). It poses significant problems for airframe attachment & stowage.
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Good option for heavy high wing military transports with retraction into fuselage blisters.
The Antonov An-124 Condor has 24 wheels: two side-by-side, 2-wheel nose legs, and ten main legs (5 each side), each with 2 wheels.
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Here the two main wheels are located forward of the CG and a tail wheel or skid provides the third support point. This is a simpler, lighter and cheaper design than a tricycle layout but has significant disadvantages:
Difficult ground maneuvering and take-off/landing due to
inhibited visibility.
This was the norm for many early aircraft but its application is nowadays limited to simple light aircraft where emphasis is on simplicity and low cost often with fixed (rather than retractable) legs.
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DHC-1 Chipmunk
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Sometimes advantageous to concentrate the main load into a single main leg rather than two.
For Harrier, a tricycle main units would be difficult to accommodate in he fuselage (because of powerplant) or wing (because of wing trailing edge controls and underwing pylons).
BAe Harrier
Ground roll stability obtained from pair of lightweight , lightly-loaded outriggers, located near to wing tips.
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This is a specialized form of the single main leg configuration but with the rear leg significantly further back. This results in the nose leg carrying a similar proportion of the mass as the rear leg. Advantage is an uncluttered wing and long length of available fuselage space (e.g. for a bomb bay).
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Disadvantages are:
Highly loaded nose leg makes ground maneuvering very
difficult. Specialized landing technique needed, especially if in cross-winds. Outriggers needed for ground roll stability.
B-52 Stratofortress
Unconventional Configurations
Biplane
The norm for the first 30 years of aviation. Early airfoils were very thin requiring external bracing so that biplanes gave best structural efficiency. Many penalties of use, especially at higher speeds increased total mass, drag and aerodynamic interference. Aerodynamics and materials advances have led to increased wing loadings (W/S) so that biplanes are mostly redundant nowadays main exception is aerobatics aircraft where low W/S is an advantage and specialized aircraft such as crop-sprayers.
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Unconventional Configurations
Biplanes
Unconventional Configurations
Variable Sweep (Swing-Wing)
Design Problem:
High sweep usually needed for
transonic/supersonic speed designs but this affects low speed performance. Possible solution is to use variable sweep wings.
This gives a better matched performance over a wide speed range and offers an aircraft multi-role capabilities over subsonic and supersonic speed ranges.
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Unconventional Configurations
Variable Sweep - Disadvantages
Increased mass over conventional design due to heavy actuation system. Increased system complexity and costs. Increased drag due to interaction between fixed and moving parts of the wing. Trim and stability/control problems due to movements of aerodynamic centre and CG.
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Unconventional Configurations
Variable Sweep Aircraft
F-14 Tomcat
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Unconventional Configurations
Canard Layout The conventional aft horizontal tailplane is replaced by a foreplane (or canard) while the main wing is then moved rearwards for stability purposes. Two main categories:
Lifting canard canard provides substantial lift
as well as longitudinal trim and control. Control canard - longitudinal trim and control only.
This is not a new idea the original Wright Flyer was a control canard configuration.
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Unconventional Configurations
Canard Layout Configuration Advantages Negligible trim drag penalty, usually a download on the rear tail surface on a conventional layout. More rapid pitching maneuver response as initial change is in required direction. Possible layout advantage (e.g. aft-located wing passes behind the cabin). Better provision for escape from pitch-up (associated with tip-stall on highly swept wings).
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Unconventional Configurations
Canard Layout Configuration Disadvantages Airflow interference from the canard over the main wing surface. Increased pitching moment effect with wing flap deployment due to large moment arm so sophisticated high lift devices may not be used with consequent lowspeed performance penalty.
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Unconventional Configurations
Long-Coupled Canard Layout Small canard located far enough forward so that interference effects are small. Particularly suited to long-range supersonic aircraft designs (bombers, transports, etc.). Foreplane effect is beneficial for cruise trim drag reduction and at low speed, particularly for take-off rotation.
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Unconventional Configurations
Long-Coupled Canard Layout Aircraft Examples
Tu-144 Concordski
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Unconventional Configurations
Short-Coupled Canard Layout Foreplane placed just ahead of (& usually above) wing. Careful location enables lift effectiveness of pair to exceed that of sum of isolated lifting surfaces. Most applicable to high agility combat aircraft designs.
Dassault Rafale
Saab Gripen
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Unconventional Configurations
Canard with Forward Sweep Rearward sweep usually preferable as it gives better compromise of aerodynamic characteristics especially stability/control. Forward swept wings also more prone to aeroleastic divergence overcome with associated mass penalty. Method could give overall layout advantages, e.g. by allowing wing carrythrough structure to pass through rear of aircraft and avoid main section.
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Unconventional Configurations
Canard With Forward Sweep Aircraft Examples
Su-47 Berkut
Grumman X-29A
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Unconventional Configurations
Employs both a foreplane and a tailplane. Advantages Stabilizing effect of tailplane. Favorable trim & control functionality of foreplane. Disadvantages Fuselage mass penalty. Increased interference drag and also skin friction due to increased total wetted surface area.
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Unconventional Configurations
Three Surface Aircraft
Piaggio Avanti
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Unconventional Configurations
Twin-Boom Layout Aircraft Several possible reasons for being adopted:
Allows engine to be mounted close to CG
particularly pusher-prop types & early jets. Over-riding requirement for aircraft to have unrestricted access to rear of freight hold. Visibility for rear gunner/bomber crew.
Results in use of twin fins. Disadvantages include: increased wing mass, increased interference drag and less usable volume.
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Unconventional Configurations
Twin-Boom Layout Aircraft
Cessna C337 Skymaster
Armstrong-Whitworth Argosy
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Unconventional Configurations
Span-Loaders Closely related to flying wing designs whereby the payload held in main wing box structure. Small central fuselage pod sometimes used to house flight deck and central services. Advantages
Spreads the payload across the wing, rather than the
fuselage. This gives inertial relief to the wing structure. Most of aircraft then comprises wing (with higher lift/drag than conventional fuselage). Gives typical 10% reduction in take-off mass.
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Unconventional Configurations
Span-Loaders - Disadvantages Difficult emergency passenger evacuation procedures. Structural layout problems. Fuel location. Pressurization of wing section. Increased moments of inertia leading to poor roll rates. Complicated flight control system.
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Unconventional Configurations
Flying Wing (Blended Wing-Body) Layout Similar to spanloaders optimum aerodynamic solution sought - wing is most efficient means of lift generation so fuselage is dispensed with altogether. Advantages
As for spanloader inertial relief of wing gives lower
wing structure mass and lower costs. Potential for increased passenger cabin volume and improved comfort levels. Major opportunity for using laminar flow technology easier to apply to wing than a fuselage.
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Unconventional Configurations
BWB Aircraft - Disadvantages Passenger wariness of unconventional (more feasible to military & cargo transports). Unfamiliar structural layout & design. Complex aerodynamic interference effects.
Unconventional Configurations
Braced-Wing Airliner
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Unconventional Configurations
Braced-Wing Airliner
The tight coupling between structures and aerodynamics requires the extensive use of MDO to make it work The strut allows a thinner wing without a weight penalty and also a higher aspect ratio, and less induced drag Reduced t/c allows less sweep without a higher wave drag penalty Reduced sweep leads to even lower wing weight Reduced sweep allows for some natural laminar flow and thus reduced skin friction drag
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Unconventional Configurations
Braced-Wing Airliner Study
Unconventional Configurations
Braced-Wing Airliner Study
aircrafts specifications and requirements may include some special provision which could then have a dominant influence over the resultant configuration. These include:
Short Take-Off & Vertical Landing (STOVL). Stealth. Waterborne Operations.
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Often required to operate to and from airstrips of short length and poor surface strength. No major effect upon configuration selection (unless tiltrotor/wing technology adopted) but increased emphasis on:
High installed thrust. Complex high lift devices and wing technology. Low tire pressures.
DHC Dash 7
Breguet 941
Boeing YC-14
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Bell XV-15
For vertical landing the available vertical thrust component must exceed the landing weight.
All methods require separate low-speed control capability, usually using reaction jets supplied with bleed air from main engine compressor.
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Uses one or more dedicated lift engines in addition to deflected thrust from cruise engine. Allows engine to be located more conveniently to aft of aircraft with lift engines forwards, giving more design flexibility.
Disadvantage is extra mass of lift engine worthless in forward flight mode.
Yak-141 Freestyle
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Increasingly important for modern combat aircraft designs. Final configuration depends heavily on overall priority of stealth against performance.
B-2: Stealth is primary design driver F-22: high performance levels with stealth
B-2 Spirit F-22 Raptor
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Foreplanes best avoided. Internal powerplants & weapons. Intakes with long curved ducts. Exhausts must be shielded. Avoid surfaces positioned at right angles to each other (e.g. use inclined fins). Minimize discontinuities in shape/surface. Surface edges parallel to each other. Difficulties with cockpit transparencies use of unmanned vehicles advantageous.
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resistance forces.
Use nowadays restricted to small aircraft operating in coastal regions or in remote locations with many lakes & rivers. Two basic categories float planes & flying boats.
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Seaplanes
Conventional landing gear replaced by large floats. Invariably propeller-driven. Usually direct conversions from landbased types. Usually only applicable to small aircraft (12 tones max). Air drag of floats is high and gives large tail download trim requirement.
DeHavilland Beaver
Cessna LC-126
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Flow pattern before and behind the wing, showing angle of attack at intake of podded (dotted) and rear-mounted engines
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Airflow is strongly disturbed by the presence of the airplane. Engine incidences must be properly adjusted to the local flow to avoid inlet distortion and even separation in the intake.
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Powerplant Installation
Powerplant Installation
Rotor Burst Containment
APU
Engine
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