Abstract: An aircraft (10) is described as including a reference axis extending along at least a portion of the aircraft, and a propulsion system having a thrust vector feature (43) defining generally a direction of thrust of the turbofan engine (18), the thrust vector feature (43) extending relative to a thrust vector axis, where the turbofan engine (18) is disposed on the aircraft with the thrust vector feature (43) oriented with respect to the reference axis of the aircraft.

Abstract: A method for installing a pre-assembled powerplant and pylon assembly on an aircraft comprises determining a first length of a first link, determining a second length of a second link, determining a first distance occupyable by the first link between the pylon and the aircraft, determining a second distance occupyable by the second link between the pylon and the aircraft, determining a first result by subtracting the first distance from the first length, determining a second result by subtracting the second distance from the second length, and determining a third result by adding the first result and the second result. If the third result is less than or equal to zero, the first link is installed between the pylon and the aircraft before the second link. If the third result is greater than zero, the second link is installed between the pylon and the aircraft before the first link.

Abstract: An aircraft (10) is described as including a reference axis extending along at least a portion of the aircraft, and a propulsion system having a thrust vector feature (43) defining generally a direction of thrust of the turbofan engine (18), the thrust vector feature (43) extending relative to a thrust vector axis, where the turbofan engine (18) is disposed on the aircraft with the thrust vector feature (43) oriented with respect to the reference axis of the aircraft.

Abstract: There are described herein methods and systems for manufacturing and/or assembling components having datum features thereon used to derive datum reference frames. The datum reference frames provided on the components may serve as both manufacturing and assembly datum reference frames.

Abstract: A method for installing a pre-assembled powerplant and pylon assembly on an aircraft comprises determining a first length of a first link, determining a second length of a second link, determining a first distance occupyable by the first link between the pylon and the aircraft, determining a second distance occupyable by the second link between the pylon and the aircraft, determining a first result by subtracting the first distance from the first length, determining a second result by subtracting the second distance from the second length, and determining a third result by adding the first result and the second result. If the third result is less than or equal to zero, the first link is installed between the pylon and the aircraft before the second link If the third result is greater than zero, the second link is installed between the pylon and the aircraft before the first link.