How did they prevent the two fuselages from torquing the wing apart? Seems like keeping both “sub-planes” from ripping the middle wing apart would be challenging.
One of my favorite airplane-related videos is one from the old days during 747 development, where they bent the wing until it broke. Turns out it is extremely strong.
Note: I did a search for that old video and came up with a more recent 777 video instead. Still interesting to see how far they have to bend it before it will break. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRf395ioJRY
This was my first thought as well. But then I remembered that modern twin-engine commercial jets can fly with one engine down in an emergency. Not an aircraft engineer, but I suspect the structure is strong enough to handle normal torques during turning.
I’m not sure I follow. Unless they did something bananas with the design (which I admit is entirely possible given who designed it), the lift from the wings is transmitted to the rest of the aircraft through a spanwise spar(s). The fuselages hang off of the spar. What forces would rip that apart?
I would expect the forces go both ways. The fuselages have their own forces on the wings and since they are essentially sub-planes I’d imagine the forces could both strong and un coordinated - eg one trying to go one way while the other tries to go the other way. I’m sure under normal circumstances, computers keep everything aligned, but wondering about stressful situations.