the effect of engine placement on aircraft on the aerodynamic characteristics of the aircraft?
448243
minimal. \npower to weight ratio is significantly more important, as is wing design (the "lift" it can generate).\nplacement only concerns the weight distribution.
757186
theoretically -- yes\n\nyet fuel consumption is much more affected by other factors like  soft tires (that are inflated less than specified pressure), any present of strong wind or anything that increases the drag -- for example, when I travel long distances with the bicycle mounted on the back of the car, the drag and fuel consumption increases noticeably.
659681
One of the other responses is correct in one sense that the ultimate efficiency of an internal combustion engine is determined by its compression ratio and operating temperature.  However, those things being equal, the engine with the lower amount of rotating mass will produce more output power per unit of fuel.  As one of the responses mentioned, lighter pistons can affect the efficiency, as can the design, e.g., a roller cam, overhead cam designs vs. rocker arms, a shorter stroke (sometimes), can all affect the comparative efficiency.  One glaring example of how rotating mass and internal friction can affect such is that better oils can improve fuel efficiency by reducing internal friction and lighter pistons can as well by reducing the amount of internal poser usage to accelerate and decelerate the pistons as they travel.
891219
The technology achieved in the race of air power is tremendous. How do you think that man has achieved to put over one million people in the skies at an altitude ranging from 29,000 to 44,000 feet continuously every hour on the hour? Is it not through having over 5000 airplanes continuously flying in the air as a result of understanding aerodynamics and behavior of air and the power that air may produce because of our understanding of its behavior extensively? The development of high bypass engines that produce 100,000 pounds of forward thrust through titanium blades shaped as airfoil to deliver considerable engine thrust for aircraft and lift for wings to carry over one million pounds of weight to safely cruise in the air with as little noise as possible by the latest Boeing 747 Jumbo jet which can easily and safely maneuver at an altitude reaching almost 10 miles above in the skies. Don't you think that this is quite an advanced technology reached from understanding fluids engineering. How about the achievement of the United States fighters that travels almost 5 times the speed of sound and cruise at a level over 90,000 feet. Isn't that quite an achievement developed by researches done to understand behavior of aerodynamics? Currently, General Electric is indulging in producing noiseless high by pass engines that delivers forward thrust exceeding 120,000 pounds. Can you imagine flying at 50,000 feet in the air with speed greater than the speed of sound and enjoying an environment quieter than your bedroom or inside your own home? What about Generating electricity by building windmills at remote areas unpopulated on Earth. How about compressing the air using electrical pumps with air flow to produce conditioned air suited for hot climates at home or office or inside your car or factory or almost any place. Isn't that an advancement made in the race of air power. I can go on and reveal to you how much advancement man has reached to subjugate the tremendous amount of air that we have in our planet to suit our peace and joy of life. Finally, consider the power of Hurricane that can lift up a whole city from the ground and result more damage to the areas on Earth that exceeds the damage that water had done during the Great flood of Noah.
22152
Can't answer this one directly as memory fails me but try a book by A C Kermode called Principles of Aeronautics.  This is an oldish book but still in print and used in the Royal Air Force for all its engineers and technicians.
827915
Fairly good, from what I gather.  It doesn't render a plane invisible, but it reduces the radar signature so it's much closer before you see it.  Close enough that you can't do much about it.  They take care of more than bounce off the airframe.  The engines are buried so you can't see reflection off the compressor blades in front, and the exhaust is diffused to reduce the heat signature as well.  Pretty well obscured from all angles.\n\nThis makes them real interesting when you see them go over.  I was out in the yard one night and saw a formation of four lights in a triangle (one was slightly back and to the side of the first light) and caught my breath.  This ENORMOUS triangle was creeping through the sky and the lights were steady white, not flashing red and green like normal planes have.  I assume that was to resemble stars, yet allow the planes to see each other.  There was no noise at all.  I gathered my wits enough to look at the center of the triangle to see stars there.  If I hadn't seen stars, I think I would have gone in my pants.  But I saw stars, so I knew it wasn't a huge solid object.  When they were right on top, there was a soft whooshing/whining sound of the engines, which faded quickly.  There isn't even SOUND to warn you!  If you fly something llike that, you obviously have to keep an eye on radar for other planes in the area, because they sure as hell can't see you.
1051781
The size of the fuselage would depend on the size of the engine (assuming that you are trying to keep the engine in the fuselage). The wing span would primarily depend on how heavy the engine (and plane itself) was, to determine how much lift you need to get out of the wings to get off the ground.\n\nRemote controlled planes with a weight of 10lbs can lift about an additional 40 lbs of payload, if designed well. The one I am familiar with had approximately a 10 foot wingspan (length of each wing was 5ft)
469801
When an airplane lands, the thrust from the engines is diverted forward to slow the plane down.  Then when the plane has slowed to a certain speed, brakes are applied.
1121594
Unlike fixed-wing aircraft, the helicopter's main airfoil is the rotating blade assembly (rotor) mounted atop its fuselage on a hinged shaft (mast) connected with the vehicle's engine and flight controls. In comparison to airplanes, the tail of a helicopter is somewhat elongated and the rudder smaller; the tail is fitted with a small antitorque rotor (tail rotor). The landing gear sometimes consists of a pair of skids rather than wheel assemblies.\nhe fact that the helicopter obtains its lifting power by means of a rotating airfoil (the rotor) greatly complicates the factors affecting its flight, for not only does the rotor turn but it also moves up and down in a flapping motion and is affected by the horizontal or vertical movement of the helicopter itself. Unlike the usual aircraft airfoils, helicopter rotor airfoils are usually symmetrical. The chord line of a rotor, like the chord line of a wing, is an imaginary line drawn from the leading edge to the trailing edge of the airfoil.\n\nThe relative wind is the direction of the wind in relation to the airfoil. In an airplane, the flight path of the wing is fixed in relation to its forward flight; in a helicopter, the flight path of the rotor advances forward (to the helicopter's nose) and then rearward (to the helicopter's tail) in the process of its circular movement. Relative wind is always considered to be in parallel and opposite direction to the flight path. In considering helicopter flight, the relative wind can be affected by the rotation of the blades, the horizontal movement of the helicopter, the flapping of the rotor blades, and wind speed and direction. In flight, the relative wind is a combination of the rotation of the rotor blade and the movement of the helicopter.\n\nLike a propeller, the rotor has a pitch angle, which is the angle between the horizontal plane of rotation of the rotor disc and the chord line of the airfoil. The pilot uses the collective and cyclic pitch control (see below) to vary this pitch angle. In a fixed-wing aircraft, the angle of attack (the angle of the wing in relation to the relative wind) is important in determining lift. The same is true in a helicopter, where the angle of attack is the angle at which the relative wind meets the chord line of the rotor blade.\n\nAngle of attack and pitch angle are two distinct conditions. Varying the pitch angle of a rotor blade changes its angle of attack and hence its lift. A higher pitch angle (up to the point of stall) will increase lift; a lower pitch angle will decrease it. Individual blades of a rotor have their pitch angles adjusted individually.\n\nRotor speed also controls lift—the higher the revolutions per minute (rpm), the higher the lift. However, the pilot will generally attempt to maintain a constant rotor rpm and will change the lift force by varying the angle of attack.\n\nAs with fixed-wing aircraft, air density (the result of air temperature, humidity, and pressure) affects helicopter performance. The higher the density, the more lift will be generated; the lower the density, the less lift will be generated. Just as in fixed-wing aircraft, a change in lift also results in a change in drag. When lift is increased by enlarging the angle of pitch and thus the angle of attack, drag will increase and slow down the rotor rpm. Additional power will then be required to sustain a desired rpm. Thus, while a helicopter is affected like a conventional aircraft by the forces of lift, thrust, weight, and drag, its mode of flight induces additional effects.\n\nIn a helicopter, the total lift and thrust forces generated by the rotor are exerted perpendicular to its plane of rotation. When a helicopter hovers in a windless condition, the plane of rotation of the rotor (the tip-path plane) is parallel to the ground, and the sum of the weight and drag forces are exactly balanced by the sum of the thrust and lift forces. In vertical flight, the components of weight and drag are co
905311
Air resistance is a force operating in opposition to thrust.  With a given thrust the object increases speed, which increases drag due to air resistance, until thrust and drag are equal at which point the object no longer accelerates.  This also applies if the "thrust" is gravity acting on a falling object -- it will reach "terminal velocity" when gravity has accelerated it to a speed at which the air resistance is equal to the weight of the falling object, at which point the forces are in equilibrium and the object neither increases nor decreases in speed.\n\nThe shape of an object affects air resistance -- generally speaking the greater the cross section and the flatter the leading and trailing edges are perpendicular to the direction of travel, the greater the air resistance and the lower the maximum velocity or terminal velocity that can be achieved.\n\nBy adjusting the shape of an object so that air flows around that object with the minimum of resistance, you decrease the drag and this in turn increases the maximum acceleration and speed.  It can alternately be used to increase efficiency as less thrust is needed to achieve the same accelerations and speeds.
1110236
Airflow over the lifting surfaces creates pressure differences between top and bottom sides, which gives you the lifting force.  You have to shove the lifting surfaces through the air in order for them to generate the lift, though, hence why true aeroplanes must have engines to push them along.   If you don't have an engine then you are a glider, and barring thermal upcurrents you will be perpetually falling.   Until...\n\nI think passenger jets can glide at about a 1:20 downward slope with no engine power.
906102
If an aircraft window was square or rectangular (as the used to be) there is a concentrated stress on the corners of the window.\n\nThis stress, due to stresses on the aircraft as well as pressures, has previously caused windows to blow out.\n\nA circular window will spread the forces evenly around the frame, reducing the stresses on the seam of the window.
997128
Actually yes\n\na small aircraft, can in fact stop forward movement over the ground.  If the plane is flying into the wind at 70 mph, (indicated air speed) however the wind  he is flying into, is hititting his plane at 70 mph, that would put the ground speed of zero.  All aircraft are effected by wind.  The same plane flying at a air speed of 70 mph, with a tail wind of 70 mph, has a ground speed of 140 mph.\nalso\nA landing is also known as a controlled crash.....think about it
867227
An airplane wing is designed so that air travels slower under the wing. This increases, the pressure under the wing, giving the plane lift.\n\nReally it should be that the air travels *faster over* the wing, which*decreases* the *pressure above* the wing, giving the plane lift.
463967
The first answer gives ground speed.\n\nAir speed is measured by a differenctial pressure arrangement, in which the air pressure on the leading edge of a wing is compared with the "static" pressure (a reading which is shielded from the effect of the aircraft's movement through the air.)
260639
There is nothing aerodinamical that will prevent airplanes from flying directly over the pole, yet airlines in routes such as New York-Hong Kong take a small detour when going over the pole.  The reason is not to mess with avionics and guidance systems (at the pole all directions are South and computers may react in unintended ways). The concerns are similar to those about the year 2K issues back in the year 2000.
99997
Increased lift at low altitude due to ground effect, yah? \n\nI'm curious.  You apparently know the answer, so why ask the question?