Do front engined planes, and planes with the engines under the wings, and planes with the engines on the tail, all fly different ? Is it like a front wheel drive car versus a rear wheel drive, or even more so ? Just wondering ?

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That all depends on what you mean by “fly differently”.

Once they are in the air and a cruise speed in level flight, they all fly about the same.

Where the engine (thrust) is coming from in relation to the fuselage and control surfaces is more critical when it comes to making changes to said thrust.

The most preferred position is anywhere along the center of the fuselage. The closer to the centerline the better.

The further the thrust is from the centerline. The more leverage it has on the aircraft. Thus – The more attention you need to pay when making changes to it.

The most critical example of this can be found in basic Ultralight aircraft. Many have the center of thrust mounted up above the actual CG and pitch axis (at low speed) of the aircraft. I’ve seen many beginner pilots come in for a landing after slowly decreasing power on approach…they get 10 to 15 feet off the ground and cut the power. The loss of thrust and increase in drag by the prop pitches the nose up. The wing stalls….and they drop. Ouch.
Same with adding power too fast. You’d better be ready to pull the nose up a bit when you nail it.
An example of this in general aviation aircraft are the Lake Amphibians. Awesome aircraft. But, the engine and prop are mounted well overhead in a pod. The saving grace is that they are mounted in line with the tails control surfaces.


DJ has a modified EA300L(p) aerobatic aircraft. Now pushing nearly 400hp (up from stock at 300ish) she can pull the nose straight up and hang the thing at full power on the prop for what seems like forever. Not something you can do if the engine were mounted anywhere else.

There are other issues to take into consideration as well. Such as torque. You don’t feel that come into play so much when the engine is mounted away from centerline. Lots of power/torque mounted dead center can really jack with an aircraft. For example - The P51 is not an aircraft that likes having the throttle shoved forward while starting a takeoff roll. Power Management is a critical lesson in that beast.

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1980 300D - Veggie Burner !

I've always liked the Cessna 336/7's for their "push me - pull ya" design. Never flown one but I can imagine the torque is pretty well cancelled. I've seen some later examples as well - Beech Starship, Adam, etc...

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-Evan


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Non-Benz Fleet:
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On multi engine planes, the biggest factor about the location of the engines is what happens when one quits. On under wing jets like the B737, the airplane wants to turn towards the side of the failed engine and the pilot must counter with opposite rudder. The farther away the engine is from the center line of the plane, the greater the turning force when one fails and the opposite side is still running. This is most critical if an engine quits right as the plane is lifting off the ground. On planes like the B727 and DC9, which have the engines on the side on the tail, the turning force is much less when an engine quits.

Planes also come in differing forward to back configurations. It seems the wings and engines are way back on a 727, while they are more to the center line on a 737. Does this make things like landings more difficult? An un-educated guess here is the 737 would be easier to control in up and down motions than a 727. Any opinion?

No real difference.
The wing location is all about the CG of the aircraft. When you mount two big heavy JT8’s on the back of the fuselage (DC9/MD80) or three (727), the wing has to be located further aft. The center of lift and the CG need to be as close as possible.
It doesn’t really make that big a difference in landing characteristics.
Sure, they have different landing characteristics, but they are not so much related to engine placement.

What does make a difference in flight characteristics is “Conventional Tail” vs. “T-Tail”.
But if we get into that right now, we’ll be here all night.
John flew the kids to Grandmas. Shelby is on her way over from her hangar and we have a “Girls Night Out” date at Billy Bob’s !!
So the airplane stuff will have to wait. Sorry Love –

Cheers!!
DJ – aka UK Mum

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1980 300D - Veggie Burner !

^^^ You guys are fantastic!

I'm to new an aviator and still flying "Tuna Cans" to add anything.

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"It's normal for these things to empty your wallet and break your heart in the process."
2012 SLK 350
1987 420 SEL

Don't ever think that way, Siduri.


Just as no two flights are alike.
So too, are no two aviators alike.

Just as no aviator will ever stop learning.
So too, will no aviator not be able to teach.

Just as you can sit at a bar and speak of your very first flight,
and those who listen will learn.
So too, those who read your words will learn.

We share in our love of flight.
We share in our knowledge of light.

We all have something to share.

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1980 300D - Veggie Burner !

When I built model planes anything with a higher wing was usualy more user friendly to fly. Big wide high wings, like a Piper Cub were very forgiving.

Anything with a low wing, more so a fighter design was much more tricky. I saw many a model warbird get stuffed.

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