Belly tank

Belly tank

There it is , on its way to become a part of the plane.

Finally I adopted the idea of a main short and strong spar inside the belly tank, that take the load of the fuel tank, and has its load shared with the  internal bulkheads.

One attach point is located at the tank center of gravity (and aircraft CG), with the other at the rear, that will provide the adequate pitch and alignment.

Concerning to the pitch, the longitudinal axis will be initially adjusted to follow the air stream at landing weight. That means that the belly fuel tank will help the wings lift at full load, providing its own one, even if drag also increases. Would I am wrong, please let me know.

IMG_3908

Ya está tomando forma el depósito. En breve podrá formar parte del avión.

Finalmente he incorporado la idea de larguero de carga corto y resistente, que llevará toda la carga del depósito y que a su vez la redistribuye entre las cuadernas.

Lleva en el centro de gravedad del depósito (que coincide con el avión) uno de los enganches. El otro se encuentra en la parte trasera del depósito y sirve de alineación horizontal y vertical del mismo.

La alineación vertical permitirá que el depósito tenga un ángulo de ataque cero a peso de aterrizaje. Ello implica que su ángulo será positivo a carga máxima, y de esta forma, aportará algo de sustentación al avión ( y también resistencia). Si mi criterio es equivocado, os agradecería vuestro comentario.

One Comment



Don Pearsall / Aug 30, 2015 6:26 am / Reply

Michel, I think that making the belly tank provide some life is a good idea. As you said, with lift comes drag, but maybe you need more lift than speed. That is one BIG tank. I am sure it will work perfectly just like all your other inventions.

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