Waterline

[Bluestar]

Hardy,

Did you use a "waterline" as the central reference point in the development of the PSX flight model?

Bode

[Hardy Heinlin]

Did you use "letters" to write your post? :-)

What's the core of your question?


|-|ardy

[Bluestar]

The waterline is a central reference point used by Boeing engineers when designing airplanes.  Boeing's first airplanes were flying boats and that is why they used the term waterline.  As far as I know all Boeing aircraft are built using the waterline reference. 

This was just a question asked out of curiosity about how you went about developing the flight model you use in PSX.

My grandson is working on his PhD in aeronautical engineering and knows lots about Boeing waterlines.  🤣

Bode

[Hardy Heinlin]

I know the term. It's just a height reference; a reference number on the y-axis on the drawing board. The number per se doesn't affect the flight model as long as the aircraft component positions relative to each other are correct, no matter where the waterline is drawn.

An analogy: Moving longitude 000° from Greenwich to Tokyo wouldn't affect the earth's physical behaviour either. It would just affect the drawing boards.


|-|ardy

[John H Watson]

As far as I know all Boeing aircraft are built using the waterline reference. 

Aren't waterlines and body stations simply a reference to the construction frame in which the aircraft is built?

WL199.80 is the top surface of the main cabin deck at body station 520. WL308 is the top of the upper deck floor.

Body station 90 is the tip of the radome.

There are waterlines for engines and other components.