Why do small personal jets always have engines at the tail end?
Small private jets don’t always have engines at the back, but there are a number of benefits to this design.
Crash Safety: If you have to land abruptly, (especially in the water) having engine pods under the wings makes the crash much more dangerous. If your gear won’t go down, with no engine pods under the wings you have a fairly flat surface that is much more forgiving even when crash landing on a runway.
Design Simplicity: Getting the engines off the wings means there is more room in the wings for flight surfaces and controls. The wings also don’t have to have the additional support structure needed to support the weight of the engines, and the wings can thus hold more fuel.
Noise: By putting the engines at the back of the aircraft, a lot of the engine noise is eliminated. As a private jet isn’t jammed with 400 passengers and the occupants are likely to want to work, quiet is good.
Appearance: This one is personal preference I suppose, but on smaller jets, the engines in the back just look cooler. There is also some effort here from manufacturers trying to mimic popular designs.
Thrust Control: Engines close together at the rear means that if you lose an engine, you don’t have to fight the force of having a lot of thrust on one side and none on the other. Losing an engine is bad enough without making the aircraft unstable as well.
Turbine Failure: When a turbine engine breaks up, it often sends pieces flying into the airframe at high speeds. While having engine parts fly into the tail section isn’t ideal, it still beats having the debris hit the passengers, fuel tanks, or even the pilots.
Fire: If your engine is on fire at the rear of the plane, at least it isn’t on fire right below the main fuel tanks.
Convenience: By having the engines high up, you don’t need to have tall landing gear and thus there is no need for a huge staircase to get on and off the aircraft. People who can afford private jets like convenience.
Get more information on small plane options for your next trip with the Vincent Jets team at www.vincentjets.com!