Aircraft with overwing engine position
An aircraft that includes a fuselage, right and left wings coupled to the fuselage, struts that are connected to and that extend outward from an underside of the wings, and engines mounted to the struts. The struts are configured to locate the engines in an overwing position.
1 . An aircraft comprising:
a fuselage;
right and left wings coupled to the fuselage and with each of the wings comprising a top side;
struts that are connected to and that extend outward from an underside of the wings with the struts located forward of the wings such that the struts do not extend vertically over the top sides of the wings;
engines mounted to the struts; and
wherein the struts locate the engines in an overwing position.
2 . The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the engines are mounted to tops of the struts.
3 . The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein a centerline of each of the engines is positioned vertically above the wings.
4 . The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the top sides of the wings are clean by being free of structures that cause a decrease in performance.
5 . The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the engines are open rotor engines.
6 . The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the struts comprise:
spars that are spaced apart along a length of the struts;
bulkheads positioned along the length and aligned transverse to the spars; and
links that are connected to the wings.
7 . The aircraft of claim 6 , wherein each of the struts comprise at least two spars.
8 . The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the aircraft comprises a low wing design with the wings positioned below the fuselage.
9 . The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the aircraft is transonic.
10 . An aircraft comprising:
a fuselage;
a right wing and a left wing each coupled to the fuselage, each of the right wing and the left wing comprising a top side and an underside;
a first strut mounted to the right wing away from the top side in a non-overlapping vertical orientation with the right wing;
a second strut mounted to the left wing away from the top side in a non-overlapping vertical orientation with the right wing;
a first engine mounted to the first strut and positioned vertically above the right wing; and
a second engine mounted to the second strut and positioned vertically above the left wing.
11 . The aircraft of claim 10 , wherein the aircraft is a low wing aircraft.
12 . The aircraft of claim 10 , wherein the aircraft is transonic.
13 . The aircraft of claim 10 , wherein the first engine vertically overlaps with the right wing and the second engine vertically overlaps with the left wing.
14 . The aircraft of claim 10 , wherein each of the first strut and the second strut include a common configuration of structural members.
15 . The aircraft of claim 10 , wherein each of the first engine and the second engine are open rotor engines.
16 . The aircraft of claim 10 , wherein each of the first strut and the second strut comprise kinks.
17 . The aircraft of claim 10 , wherein the first engine is positioned along the fuselage forward of a leading edge of the right wing and the second engine is positioned along the fuselage forward of a leading edge of the left wing.
18 . A method of mounting an engine to a wing of a low wing aircraft, the method comprising:
connecting a first end of a strut to an underside of the wing with the strut positioned away from a top side of the wing; and
mounting the engine to a second end of the strut with a centerline of the engine positioned vertically above the wing and with the entire engine positioned forward of a leading edge of the wing.
19 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising mounting the engine to a top of the strut.
20 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising positioning a rotor of the engine forward of the leading edge of the wing.