Questions on airplanes?

Question

Does anyone know where the fuel tanks are on most passenger aircraft, such as the 747? Also what are the small antenna 'things' stick out of various parts of the wings? I suspect they are for weather and radar etc. Anyone clarify please? TY!!

Answer 1

For jh.  Thanks for your service in the military.  The static eliminators were invented in the late 1940s under a defense contract for the US Navy. My father was the inventor and he worked for Owens-Corning Fiberglass at the time. They were originally an aluminum tube, flattened on one end, with fine fiberglass fibers extending from the other end of the tube. There was a thin plastic tube over most of the fibers to prevent them from breaking in the wind. They were rivited along the trailing edges of the wings and horizontal stab. :-)

Answer 2

The primary fuel tanks are in the wings, though there is usually one under the fuselage as well.  It is not used as frequently and acts only as a storage tank for fuel to sit in until it is pumped into the wing tanks.

Those antennae that you see sticking off the wings are actually something called "static wicks."  They help dissipate any static electricity that builds up on the frame of the airplane.  As it flies through the air, the aircraft can build up a negative electrical charge (kind of like rubbing a balloon on your head).  Without grounding, this could present a problem and cause a shock to happen when the aircraft gets closer to earth or to anything else.  Those little antennae dissipate the electrical charge into the atmosphere negating the problem of electrical buildup.

Answer 3

Fuel tanks are in the wings on nearly all aircraft, both large and small.  The antennas vary by aircraft size, but they are used for communication, navagation, radar, etc.  On large aircraft most of this equipment is located in the radome on the nose of the aircraft.

Answer 4

In all Boeing, Douglas, Airbus and Lockheed commercial aircraft the fuel is primarily in the wings and the "wing box" which is th area under the aircraft between the wings.

That provides the best center of gravity to keep the majority of the fuel. There are aircraft with auxilary fuel tanks, they are generally installed in the cargo bays where baggage and cargo would have ordinarily be stored.

The little "things" sticking out of the wings are called static wicks. As the aircraft travels through the air, static electricity builds up along the surface of the fuselage and wings. These little devices are there to allow the charge a point of exit.

The weather radar is located under the nose dome (called a radome) and is in no way connected to the static wicks.

Answer 5

The fuel for an airplane is stored in internal fuselage fuel cell along with what they call "Wet Wings" where fuel is stored in the wings.

Those little "antenna" things sticking out of the wings are called Static Eliminators.  As the aircraft travels through the air, it can build up static electricity and these static eliminators will discharge that in a safe manner.

When I was in the Air Force we installed these on our fighter aircraft (F-4's).  We were about the first to use these.

Answer 6

Why do you need to know ...

Answer 7

Fuel tanks are in the wings and under the cargo floor in the fuselage.