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Video answers: Why are the 737 engines flat?

Here are the answers to the previous video, enjoy!

Suggested ICAO level for video: 5+

  1. It was designed in 1960s.
  2. Designing it to be low to the ground made it easier to load by baggage handlers.
  3. This characteristic became an issue for the 737 designers when they wanted to update it with turbofan engines which were much bigger than the previous turbojet ones.
  4. The solution was to redesign the engine pylons and move the engines further forward to the front of the wings and raising them a little. Also, by making the engine intake a little flatter they were able to gain a few more centimetres of clearance from the ground.
  5. Landings are sometimes performed with a slight bank angle and this could cause engines which are low to the ground to hit the runway, so making them as high as possible is desirable.
  6. A lot of equipment was moved to the side of the engines, making them wider.
  7. The MAX has a higher ground clearance to accommodate the new LEAP engines. This means that the MAX doesn’t have the iconic engine shape of former 737 generations.

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