Re: Clever design
Makes sense -- there are some serious design consequences for having rear-mounted engines. You're putting the heaviest components in the entire aircraft at the extreme aft end, which creates center-of-gravity issues that have to be compensated for elsewhere. It also usually requires a T-tail to keep the horizontal stabilizer out of the jet blast, which in turn requires a stiffer vertical fin, which adds even more weight right where you don't need it. Finally, the T-tail makes the plane vulnerable to an unrecoverable "deep stall," where the wing blocks airflow to the tail at certain angles of attack.
There are advantages, though -- there's less noise (except in the back) and you can have a cleaner wing design with full-width flaps, since it doesn't have to support the engines.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
