For example, the 737 has engine cowlings that are flattened on the bottom for more ground clearance, I presume. It seems much less common now to see planes with engines in the rear, too, like the MD-80.
It seems like it would be OK to have the engines above the wings. This would allow the landing gears to be shorter (maybe?) thus reducing the likelihood of landing gear shimmy. It would also reduce the likelihood of foreign object damage (FOD) in the engines.
Perhaps the engines are so often under the wings in order to simplify maintenance, but it seems like the landing gear shimmy and FOD problems are more important ones to solve.
2007-11-21
05:36:16
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13 answers
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asked by
L Dawg
3
in
Aircraft