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Maybe guys could provide me with a picture I originally thought the anti-shock pads were fuel tanks, but somebody recently told me that they are stored in the wing, so where are they stored at. The aircraft I refer to are like the (b737), (b747-8)(b787)(a-350)

Ralph J
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Ethan
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1 Answers1

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This depends on the aircraft. In many cases there is a tank inside the wing. In some cases it can be stored in a soft bladder in the wing and in other cases the wing its self is the tank.

Here is an in wing tank enter image description here

Here are some in wing fuel bladders. enter image description here

Mooney was known for having integrated fuel tanks in their wing designs. Here are some pictures of the tanks being resealed. They are notorious for needing a reseal every now and again but they do save in weight. Modern composite structures often don't lend to this design as jet fuel or avgas and composites don't really mix.

enter image description here

Here is a nice cutaway of the A330 to show where the tanks are. enter image description here

It should be noted that you can generally pump fuel between the tanks however care must be taken when this is done because it can greatly effect the CG. This podcast has some really interesting information on how complex it was to manage the fuel weight on the Concorde and how it needed to be pumped around the tanks during various phases of the flight just to keep the plane stable.

Dave
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    Modern composite structures often don't lend to this design as jet fuel or avgas and composites don't really mix. - there are plenty of composites that have no problem with avgas or jet fuel. Many tip tanks on GA aircraft are a fiberglass shell within the wingtip that has fuel fittings laid into the structure. These designs are however prone to leaking if the composite structure develops hairline cracks, and repairs are often more involved than changing a bladder or resealing a metal tank. – voretaq7 Aug 18 '15 at 05:21
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    What are the advantages of storing fuel in the wings? – Firee Aug 18 '15 at 07:55
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    @Firee: Weight distribution. The wings generate lift, but most of the weight is in the fuselage. That means there's a large bending force on the wings. Moving some of the weight out reduces that bending force. And obviously the space in wings is too small for passengers or luggage so fuel is the only thing you can realistically store in there. – MSalters Aug 18 '15 at 10:08