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September / October, 2000
Response
to an Engineer (Boeing)
Email series from Mr. C.H. Goodlin
Part 3 of 6
In this part, Mr. Goodlin addresses the statement made by
the skeptical Boeing engineer that conventional designs are
safe enough.
----- Begin Original Message
----- From: Chalmers H. Goodlin
SAFETY:
Because the Burnelli fuselage is comprised of the bulk of
the aircraft structure, it provides a safety cage for the
occupants (note: race cars make use of safety cages to protect
the driver in case of impact).
"When the cabin of a plane stays in one piece the passengers stand a chance in any
crash."
The engines and landing gear, the major fire
sources, are attached to the main structure and isolated from
the fuel tanks in the outer wing panels. The engines are
mounted close together on the fuselage, eliminating the
serious asymmetrical thrust problems, associated with
conventional airliners which have engines mounted way outboard
of the centerline of thrust. Such major safety advances were
recognized by most aviation experts, for example:
"Moving the landing
gear inboard and strengthening the fuselage to absorb the
shock of landing would eliminate applying stress to the fuel
tank supporting structure. This revision of the commonplace
has been accomplished in the Burnelli "lifting wing" design.
Another feature of this latter type aircraft is the shifting
of fuel tanks so that they are not in direct line with the
power plants and their exhaust outlets."
The facts clearly show that the common practice of hanging
engines and landing gear on fuel tank supporting structure in
combination with excessively high take-off and landing speeds
on over-stressed tires is irresponsible. Add to these flaws a
fragile fuselage, devoid of crashworthy features, and there is
a perfect recipe for fiery crashes.
(for diagrams and further safety discussion click on respective words.)
Boeing's alleged dedication to safety is not reflected in
the words of Boeing's retired Senior Vice-President Kenneth
Luplow (letter of December 31, 1983 to Pete Gifford):
"I do not believe
that enough attention has been paid to accident avoidance
during the detailed design phase of modern day aircraft
development. The engineering departments of the
manufacturers do not have separate, identifiable staff
groups dedicated solely to a continuous audit and review of
each step of the design process to insure that each and
every design decision takes accident avoidance and
survivability into full consideration. I believe that many
accidents that have occurred during the past few years would
never had happened had such surveillance been
exercised."
(for PDF and other Boeing comments click here)
----end of message---- |
