Why is the fuel stored in the wings of an Airplane?

Answer 1

I think it is to make less stress on the wings. the more weight in the center of the airplane the more stress on where the wing attaches to the body.
It's like standing on a 2X4 piece of wood that is supported from below you versus the piece of wood being supported on the ends. If you can manufacture a plane and keep stress off the wings then it would be safer

Answer 2

The wings occupy a significant volume of space, but that space is not useful for anything other than fuel storage. There are many supports and the wing is long and thin, so only a liquid can be store there in an useful amount. Also, putting the fuel in the wings means you don't have to store it in the fuselage, at least not as much. That means you can put more passengers or cargo into the plane without making the plane any bigger.

Answer 3

the reason the plane's fuel is located at the wing of an airplane because of safety concern and it is what maybe keeps the plane balance and if it wasn't stored there the planes tail will over come to rest of the planes bodies weight causing the plane to crash but with the fuel it'll help the plane flight in a straight line plus maybe it is a safe place to burn the fuel. just a suggestion.. tam o shanter grade 6 student Canadian glen. Like it or dont like it just a students guess

Answer 4

there are a number of reasons that fuel is stored in the wings;

easier to maintain the cg range as fuel is used
allows for more cargo or passenger area
it reduces the weight supported by the wings
on multi engine aircraft it shortens the distance between the engine and the tanks

Answer 5

A plane relies on a center of gravity. The wings are aligned with this C.G. and as the fuel burns off, the C.G. doesn't change.

If the fuel was in the tail, as it burned away, the weight of the tail would decrease and change the C.G. causing a critical attitude.

The Center of Gravity must me forward of the Center of Lift for a plane to fly.

Answer 6

As Andy b states, the vast majority is in the wings, but it is now normal to have fuel in the belly and the Vert Stab. It's pumped round as it gets used too, to maintain CofG. This CoG management was pioneered on Concorde in the 60's and first intoduced into mass commercial use by Airbus in the late 70's.

Answer 7

Above answers are good. But don't overlook Lears, the model 55 for example, which carry some fuel in one or more rear fuselage tanks---their wings are short.

Answer 8

To give an aircraft the maximum range possible all available space is use to store fuel the wings being one of there areas

Answer 9

-Because wings are almost empty inside, and putting fuel in wings let you save a lot of space in the fuselage to store passengers and luggages

-Because lift is concentred on wings and weight in the fuselage, so the wing have to stand a structural load(usually maximum at the wing-root), but if you transfer part of the weight from fuselage to wing the structural load decrease because part of the weight opposite to the lift is placed in the same place of lift, so part of the stress is not transferred to the wing-root and the wing structure can be made less "resistant" and lighter(and the same consideration is true also for engines, bombs, missiles, pods ecc...placed under the wing, but in this case there are aerodynamic disvantages except for engines).

-The center of mass and center of pressure are important for stability of the aircraft, and you want the center of mass to move the less is possible, but tanks are "full" at take-off and "empty" at landing so if they are placed in the center of mass the center of mass doesn't move, if they are placed or forward or back the canter of mass moves. But wings are really near(the center of pressure is about 25% of the mean aerodynamic chord, center of mass in modern airliners is usually about 10% forward than center of pressure, so about 15%) to the center of mass.

PS-1: Cg or Cm position is considered in longitudinal direction(on nose-tail axis) and considered in the plane of simmetry, so it doesn't matter that Cm is in the fuselage and wings are on the right and on the left.....they are in corrisponcence of the Cm and this is important.

PS-2: If you consider the plane on the ground the wing is sustained by the fuselage(if gear is attached to fuselage), but in flight the fuselage is sustained by the wing, I understand that this concept is not easy to understand, but it's so, and the structural reason is an important advantage.....

Answer 10

Same reason almost every airplane in the world stores fuel in the wings. They're hollow, located at the center of gravity and huge so you can put a bunch in.

Answer 11

Because of the cavernous spaces created by the aerofoil section of the wings. Wings consist of ribs and spars with all other space left to be utilised. Also the strength of the wings enables to handle the extra weight of fuel apart from the engines, landing gear, empennage etc.