Re:Boeing CEO ousted as 737 Max crisis deepens
by AnssiH on Monday December 23, 2019 @04:23PM
(#21867537)
Boeing 737 was designed to operate with minimal ground facilities and therefore it has low ground clearance for easier access.
Airbus A320 has a much higher ground clearance.
Re:Boeing CEO ousted as 737 Max crisis deepens
by petilon on Monday December 23, 2019 @06:48PM
(#21868560)
In hindsight, should Boeing have increased the Max's ground clearance before fitting it with a large engine? I read that Boeing did not want to do this because that would have meant that the Max would not be compatible with existing airport infra. But if competitor Airbus already has a larger ground clearance then surely Boeing would be no worse off?
Re:Boeing CEO ousted as 737 Max crisis deepens
by AnssiH on Monday December 23, 2019 @08:20PM
(#21869074)
I don't think airport infra was the reason, unless maybe they wanted to preserve the low clearance for operating to airports without proper facilities?
One reason was probably that it is technically difficult to fit larger gear as they would not fit in the 737 wheel wells. Or something related to increased height...
But in fact it seems the nose gear was actually lengthened somewhat for MAX, but I guess that was not enough. The MAX 10 will also have longer main gear - it will be telescoping so it fits into existing wheel wells. (per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_737_MAX)
Re:Boeing CEO ousted as 737 Max crisis deepens
by crocal on Monday December 23, 2019 @03:49PM
(#21867237)
Airbus equivalent plane is taller on wheels than the 737. Thus they could mount the engines without changing the center of gravity of the aircraft.
Re:Boeing CEO ousted as 737 Max crisis deepens
by Forge36 on Monday December 23, 2019 @03:47PM
(#21867229)
My understanding was their planes rode higher off the ground so the engines didn't need to be moved forward
Re:Boeing CEO ousted as 737 Max crisis deepens
by rigden33 on Monday December 23, 2019 @03:50PM
(#21867249)
Yeah this is right. Vox has a video on this exactly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2tuKiiznsY
As I understand, Boeing wanted to use larger engines because larger, hotter engines burn less fuel. But increasing the diameter of the engine ordinarily means raising the wing in order to accommodate it but that would make the plane incompatible with existing infrastructure (such as jet bridges) at airports. For that reason Boeing positioned the engine forward on the wing instead of raising the wing.
Don't newer Airbus planes also have larger engines? How did they maintain compatibility with existing airport infrastructure while accommodating a larger engine?