[ELI5] Why are planes’ engines slightly tilted down?
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There are various reasons, including some already covered in other answers. Another one though is that the way an airplane wing generates lift is to gently suck suck air up and then push it down. The net result is that the air forms a bit of a “bump” from the perspective of the airplane: ⤼ (see also [this image](https://www.cam.ac.uk/sites/www.cam.ac.uk/files/news/research/news/230111-holger-babinsky-wing-lift-still.jpg)). The engines are often at the front half of this and below the wing, where the air is going up, so angling them slightly down actually means they are more parallel to the airflow. You’ll find that in airplanes where the engines are mounted on the tail (and thus in the back part of the flow, where it’s going down), they’re angled slightly up.
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