[fyoo-suh-lahzh, -lij, -zuh-, fyoo-suh-lahzh, -zuh-] 
| the complete central structure to which the wing, tail surfaces, and engines are attached on an airplane. |
| fu·se·lage (fyōō'sə-läzh', -zə-) n. The central body of an aircraft, to which the wings and tail assembly are attached and which accommodates the crew, passengers, and cargo. [French, from fuselé, spindle-shaped, from Old French fusel, spindle, from Vulgar Latin *fūsellus, diminutive of Latin fūsus.] |
fuselage
central portion of the body of an airplane, designed to accommodate the crew, passengers, and cargo. It varies greatly in design and size according to the function of the aircraft. In a jet fighter the fuselage consists of a cockpit large enough only for the controls and pilot, but in a jet airliner it includes a much larger cockpit as well as a cabin that has separate decks for passengers and cargo. The predominant types of fuselage structures are the monocoque (i.e., kind of construction in which the outer skin bears a major part or all of the stresses) and semimonocoque. These structures provide better strength-to-weight ratios for the fuselage covering than the truss-type construction used in earlier planes
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səˌlɑʒ