ORIGINAL: HaveBlue
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so what if you were to place the engine in a normally configured fuselage( this wouldnt work with a dust as such) but place the engine internally( I'm thinking somewhere towards, where a canopy usally sits and run something like an rc boat propellor shaft to the nose..
1) Wouldnt this be easier to balance an aircraft(CG)
2) A lot less frontal area required
3) Have a totally clean air frame
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what I need is criticisms or rather reasoning to why this wouldn't work
cheers
HB
Depending on the airframe, it may be harder to balance.
I am not sure how moving the engine back would give you less frontal area. If you looking at it as the engine and canopy as being two frontal objects the just remove the canopy on a speed plane. You can see from this link to NASA just how important the shape is when considering drag.
http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/shaped.html
There was a thread in the aerodynamics forums about drive shafts in a prop plane. Unlike boats, it was abandoned by most because of a series of complicated issues on prop planes.