Fuselage

The body of an aircraft, glider or rotorcraft joining the wings to the body; it usually houses the transported payload.

The fuselage of a single-engined plane contains the propulsor in the front part, the pilot's cockpit and passenger or goods cabin, which may or may not be separated, in the central part.

In a multi-engined aircraft with its engines on or under the wings, the fuselage is in three distinct parts:
• the front part housing the cockpit, various holds and finally the nose which houses the radar of which the antenna is covered by the radome, a non-metallic part that allows radar waves to pass through;
• the central part which is the passenger cabin or luggage or cargo hold, and to which the wings are fixed, and sometimes the main landing gear;
• the rear part, a conical section generally in a single block, to which are attached the rudder and tailplane, the end of which is called the tail cone.

The fuselage of a helicopter is made up in the same way, apart from light helicopters in which the front and central parts can be a single compartment called the "bubble", made from perspex.