eli5: Why do small jet aircraft, like regional jets and private jets, have engines on the rear, but larger jet planes have engines on the wings?

Question

eli5: Why do small jet aircraft, like regional jets and private jets, have engines on the rear, but larger jet planes have engines on the wings?

In: 312

Answer 1

It’s preferable to have the engines below the wings because it makes it easier to inspect and maintain the engines, and it keeps weight centered and reduces the amount of bending that the wings experience in flight.

The drawback is that in order to keep the engines from vacuuming up dirt and debris, you have to make the plane higher off the ground. This only really works for large planes intended for airports with ground equipment like jetways.

Smaller aircraft or aircraft intended to be self-sufficient in terms of getting people on and off can’t easily have the engines on the wings since they would be too close to the ground and so they go higher up on the tail.