3 ms·
I’m going to guess it’s an engineering issue, almost certainly has to do with weight distribution. Fuel usually goes in the wings because that’s the center of
by oceanplexian 3y ago
I’m going to guess it’s an engineering issue, almost certainly has to do with weight distribution.
Fuel usually goes in the wings because that’s the center of gravity and as the fuel burns the CG doesn’t dramatically change. With hydrogen, I imagine the weight isn’t changing much, because all the weight is in the tanks. This means you can do weird stuff like put the tanks aft and counterbalance them in the front.
Another thing I can think of is that cylindrical pressure vessels have inherent advantages. Wings don’t do cylindrical shapes well without wasting a bunch of space.
- angiosperm 3y agoJet-A fuel usually goes in the wings also because it fits there, and the space (not usable for cargo) would otherwise be wasted. It would otherwise need to be in tanks between the wings, for the balance reason you note. H2 fuel would not fit in the wings, in any case. LH2 is lighter than Jet-A, but it does weigh, and so still affects balance. LH2 storage does not demand a pressure vessel, but does need insulation. You still want to minimize insulated surface area, so still favor a cylindrical container. So, nacelles slung under the wings seems like the best solution, provided their parasitic drag is not excessive.