During the Second World War, the Americans used airplanes with four propeller- d

Question

During the Second World War, the Americans used airplanes with four propeller- driven engines in bombing raids, with two engines mounted on each wing, one nearer the fuselage, and one toward the end of the wing. One type of airplane, the Flying Fortress, was famous for its ability to land safely even after suffering severe damage; in particular, it could land with only one engine out of the four remaining.

Suppose that this airplane lost three of its four engines. Would it be easier to fly with

• one of the engines nearest the wingtip, or

• one of the engines nearest the fuselage remaining? Why?

In another case, one such airplane lost hydraulic power, and could no longer steer the airplane in the normal way. However, the pilot landed it safely by adjusting the power supplied to the engines (all of which were undamaged). How could a pilot steer the airplane simply by adjusting engine power?

Explanation / Answer

One of the engines near the fuselage because if you use at the wing tip engine the torque applied on one side will be imbalanced and the place will crash but the fuselage lies on the plance center line due to which it will be easily balanced.

By adjusting the power, the torque applied on the sides will vary causing the plane to move in side where the torque is less and then rebalancing torque will again balance the plane, so by changing the power one can change the intensity of the torque and hence can easily steer the ship.

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