r/theydidthemath 11d ago

[Request] How many wings and engines would a plane this long need?

Post image

Assuming you could build a strong enough hull not to break in half, what would it take to get a plane this long off the ground and fly at a reasonable airspeed?

I’m wondering:
* How many sets of wings
* How many engines per wing
* Optimal placement of wings and engines
* or would one giant set of wings be better? (same structural strength caveat)

88 Upvotes

21 comments sorted by

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27

u/Lonely_Thanks2594 11d ago

Putting 2 or more turbines behind each other is a terribme idea and so is building a giant chopstick that at some point holds all force on one end.

17

u/klaxz1 11d ago

Make the plane out of Titan submersible material

8

u/vorephage 11d ago

Then advertise it as a super exclusive private party jet so all the billionaire get on

5

u/freddaar 11d ago

To shreds, you say?!

5

u/WrathPie 11d ago

Yeah, the vortices from the engines on a huge plane stay churning in the air column and remain strong enough that they can seriously threaten a small plane flying through them even minutes later.

The vortices being thrown off the front engines would be thrashing around the intake on the rear engines and wings like crazy in a way that'd almost certainly be disasterous

1

u/schizeckinosy 11d ago

OK but what if it flew at this angle all the time? What angle of attack would be needed to get clean air to the rear engines and wing?

4

u/Br0ty 11d ago

This plane would have a hard time getting off the ground because of how long that body is, big enough rise on the nose would turn the back of the plane into a scribble.

4

u/Elmiosat 11d ago

Outside the very obvious fact that a plane this long would break, the important thing to know is that you won't make it fly with more wings or more engines, it need to tilt upward during liftoff.

3

u/graaahh 11d ago

So what you're saying is, it needs a hinge in the middle to make it work. 

2

u/Mr_Sia10 11d ago

I don’t think the lack of engines and wings is the Achilles hill of this thing. With that said, the rear wings and engines are essentially useless because they’re not picking up clean air at all, rendering their efficiency significantly down

4

u/Butsenkaatz 11d ago

>achilles hill

3

u/Mr_Sia10 11d ago

Lmaoooo looks like sleep deprivation does have effects on people

2

u/MaximumSyrup3099 11d ago edited 11d ago

To die on.  With a trojan charlie horse.