US Patent 8353478 Blended wing aircraft

Apparatus and methods provide for a blended wing passenger or cargo aircraft. Aspects of the disclosure provide an aircraft having wings with spars having a thickness at the wing root corresponding to a height of the payload space within the fuselage to which the wings are attached. The wing spars within the wings on each side of the aircraft may each be spliced into an aircraft frame that is part of the fuselage. The wing thickness provides mounting locations for aircraft engines and other components within the wing and passing through the wing spars. With this mid-wing configuration, the fuselage provides support for the various loads experienced by the wings without the use of a conventional structural wing box.