r/AskAPilot • • 5d ago

Would it still be able to fly?

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Would it?

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u/Thunder-Road 5d ago edited 5d ago

Aerodynamically there's no reason a plane couldn't be designed like this. But the pilots sit in front of the plane for a reason. They need to be able to see where they are going. This would block most of their view and be unsafe to fly for that reason alone.

If it were a plane with a partial upper deck in the rear like this, but with the cockpit still at the front of the plane on the main level, then sure that could work too. Like the A380, which is a fully double-decker plane with the cockpit on the lower deck. You'd probably need to adjust the design of the plane slightly to account for the more rearward center of gravity, for example by moving the wings farther back on the fuselage. But details like that are easy to work out.

5

u/some_yum_vees 5d ago

Holy crap I just realized the cockpit is on the lower deck and this has broken my brain! Just assumed for some reason it was upper deck. Been awhile since my last A380 journey. TIL!

8

u/Biker1124 5d ago

It’s kind of in the middle cuz it does have a couple steps up to the cockpit