Ual747 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Posted (13 years 3 months 3 weeks 1 day 16 hours ago) and read 769 times:
I have flown the 777 several times on trans-pacific and trans-atlantic flights as well as domestic. Everytime I get on the plane, I am amazed at how high the wings are swept upward. When I look out the window, it seems as though the wingtips are almost as high as the fuselage of the plane. When you get airborne, it seems as though they rise even more. On the DC-10 and MD-11, the wings just seem to go straight out. When we arrived at LGW from DFW, we parked next to a British Airways 747-400 and our wings were considerably higher than those of the 747. Why are these wings so high? What purpose does it serve or is it just a design characteristic that has nothing to do with performance? In any case, its very impressive to see those big wings reach upward like that.
D L X From United States of America, joined May 1999, 10561 posts, RR: 53 Reply 1, posted (13 years 3 months 3 weeks 1 day 16 hours ago) and read 694 times:
You are correct that the 777 wing is more dihedral (upwardly bent) than other designs. I've been told that this is partially for ground clearance reasons. The engines on the 777 are frickin' huge! In order to keep them from hitting the ground on landing, the wings supported them were bent up a little extra to give them more clearance. (That and the landing gear are rather long.)
BTW, all wings bend upward when the plane takes to the air.
Ual747 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 2, posted (13 years 3 months 3 weeks 1 day 16 hours ago) and read 689 times:
Yes, I was aware that they all bend upward, but the wings on the 777, since they are upward swept anyway, when they bend upward, it makes the effect more apparent. Thanks for the info!
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