wings

[chere0]

Hello I am asking for help with whether or not it is true the planes wings are all one piece..is that true ? Or are they two pieces bolted onto the fuselage ?
thanks

[chere0]

oh and one other thing..does anyone have any stats on if any planes engines have ever dropped off in the sky ? or exploded in the sky ?

[Aurora]

I've desperately been searching the webs since last night, trying to find an image I saw a while back ago, where a Dash 8 had it's body and wings transported seperately back to it's base after a rough landing (nothing dramatic, it landed just as normal, but it suffered some damage to the airplane body that needed repair, and there was noone who could repair it in that town). I'll try some more later, at the university right now.. hehe.

In any case, the wings are really just " a huge wing" in which the plane's body is resting upon. You can see it very well in belly-images of airbuses (and boeings) - such as these ones:


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2715/4117347016_8795224cf8.jpg

This picture is taken by me, you can see how the whole "belly area" is ... "fatter" in a way. This is a Boeing 737-800.

http://ngepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/air-france-flight-447-rio-de-janeiro-brazil-paris-france-airbus-a330-200.jpg
airbus 330 picked up from the internets - again you can see the massive "belly area" :)

[MathFox]

The wings of a 747 are bolted to the "wing box", which is the broader (stronger) part of the hull that shows well in Aurora's pictures. Here is a series of reports (http://www.aviodrome.nl/collecties-en-projecten/projecten/jumbos-touchdown) of a group of volunteers taking a (museum-piece) 747-200 apart for transport to a museum. The reports are in Dutch, but you should be able to enjoy the pictures; the December 2004 reports show the disassembled plane. It is about 300 bolts; compare that with the four bolts that hold each wheel of your car in its place.

"Structural failures" of planes are rare; my estimate it is mentioned as "contributing cause" in under 5% of the accident reports. (A structural failure is where large parts from the plane fall off.) The accident investigation boards and aviation authorities are demanding that plane designers do a proper job (and design sturdy planes.) Last crop of plane designs are very good and I dare to say the same about plane engines. For plane engines there is a FAA requirement that they keep their debris inside their enclosure (or drop it via their exhaust), a plane engine manufacturer has to show calculations and test results that demonstrate that the engine holds up to that.

[Aurora]

Dang, perhaps my visualisation is wrong? At least it is true for the Dash 8, the wing is "one" - but I still have no luck finding that image.

Here's some videos from wing-tests at the boeing factory, if you use keen eyesight you can see how the wing is attached and how it breaks in the middle, not in the attachement point :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sA9Kato1CxA

http://www.guzer.com/videos/boeing777_wing_test.php

[MathFox]

The wing design could be different for a high-wing 50 seater turbo-prop... I know for sure that many smaller air planes have a wing-spar that runs from right wing tip to left wing tip. It is harder to do have two swept wings on a single spar.

[chere0]

thank you to both for taking the time and trouble to give the info and links to me..how kind..it makes me feel better to see how well made planes are :)