Aeroplane design study STOL airliner (A71). Part 2- detail design features

This report is concerned with a description of the detail design features of the A71 project study. This aircraft is an airliner designed for operation off single 2000 ft long runways. The overall description of the design and its aerodynamic characteristics are contained in Part I of the report (Ref.1). The detail design of the structure and systems is conventional in most respects. The need to provide a long stroke undercarriage for STOL operations incurred a large weight penalty and it is concluded that further work is necessary to establish acceptable requirements for this type of undercarriage. A separate investigation (Ref.3) has shown that the aircraft does not meet its stipulated design objectives due to an inability to cope with engine failure and gusting cross wind conditions. A study to investigate the potential of the cross-coupling of adjacent powerplants to mitigate engine failure control problems suggests that the weight penalty is not justified (Ref.-)