How come you don't see blended-wing fuselage design on civilan aircraft?

Question

Like you see on military craft. Cost? No demand? Seems like there would be signifiant advantages for airliners as well as light aircraft for fuel savings...

And I'm not even just talking about the pseudo-flying wing type design. Think f-16 or SR-71. You could embed a tubular pressure cabin inside a more lifting-body shape, couldn't you?

Answer 1

There are several reasons. First, it is very difficult to pressurize an odd shape that would be the result of seating people in the wings of a blended-wing aircraft. It is much easier to design a pressurized cylinder than it is to pressurize a blended-wing configuration. Second, airports are all designed to handle traditional aircraft. Roll a blended wing aircraft up to the terminal and watch as hundreds of ground crew staff try to figure out how to get people off it with traditional boarding equipment. Third, the engine placement is a problem. Normally, you see drawings of these things with multiple engines located in pods above the rear of the plane. This is a lousy place for engines, because the airflow is awful there. The air that enters the engines would be very turbulent, not the kind of airflow high-performance jet engines need. Until they figure out the engines and the pressurization and develop a practical design, it exists only in pictures. And, as you can see, there is not the demand for the mega-seat blended wing designs that are on the drawing boards. The big demand is for planes the size and configuration of the Boeing 787 or the smaller A300 series. Airbus is even struggling with the big A380.

Answer 2

That's a good question. I just read a small article in a magazine about Boeing doing research again with a blended wing fuselage design for the military and it ended with "don't expect to see a civilian version".
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I can only guess that it would be too large to ever be of use in a civilian version. I would have thought that a blended body long range airliner would be in development within twenty years or so and be Boeing's next large airliner.
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Answer 3

Think of the wings being attached to a strong frame, and the frame being attached to the fuselage too, but from the inside. This requires massive pieces of metal and bolts and such, but this is just conventional construction. There are other techniques to do this, depending on the AC. Although this is not completely correct, divide the airplanes gross weight by two and that's about how much each wing has to lift.

Answer 4

I read that Boeing was doing research on it too. There are even pictures or what it might look like, and it's like someone already mentioned with the engines on top of the rear of the a/c. Everyone else pretty much answered your question, so, uh, bye?

Answer 5

Partly it's cost. It costs a bit more for the same cabin space. But also it's the airlines. They tend to be very conservative organizations and don't like to embrace new stuff until it's proven.

Answer 6

Boeing has been looking at this design for a few years, but has not put one in production. Maybe their customers are not showing interest, or the design expense would be too great, who knows.

Answer 7

Too different? Hard to convince customers, or their customers? There's no solid reason, the Vulcan was a great aircraft and so is the B2.

Answer 8

the fuselage too large, how thick the wing will be if its blended?