Why do big commercial airplanes have wings on the bottom and big (US) military airplanes have their wings on top?
In: Engineering
Military cargo aircraft need ramps and clam shell doors close to the ground, a long wide fuselage with no obstructions and crucially for the military, to operate independently of ground handling equipment. The wings therefore have to go on top to have room for the engines. This layout has been used since immediate post WW2 on relatively small transports such as the Bristol Freighter(1946) right up to the massive Lockheed C5 Galaxy (1968) and Antonov 225 (1980s).
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