Posted on 08/26/2014 1:46:19 PM PDT by Red Badger
Windowless planes could be the future of cheaper air travel as a government technology centre develops a proposal to help airlines save on fuel.
In place of windows, plastic display screens projecting the sky outside could line the cabin of an aircraft.
It is hoped the technology will significantly reduce aircraft weight and cut fuel costs without worrying nervous passengers.
The display screens will function using a technique called printable electronics, which involves the use of conductive inks to carry electric current in cardboard and plastic for just a few pence per unit.
The technology could be rolled out in other key industries. For example, in pharmacuticals, so-called 'smart packaging' could be used to remind a patient to take their medication.
However, developers at the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) in Sedgefield, which is one of the government's network of technology centres known as Catapults, are particularly excited by the benefits printable electronics offer to aviation.
Tom Taylor, who is part of the management team at CPI in County Durham, told The Financial Times: "Getting weight out of a plane is a key [goal] for the industry.
"You could see the first of these coming to market in three to four years."
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
I saw that episode a couple of weeks ago!...............
.
His screen is all blue...
Aviation ping.
I definitely would not want to see the BSOD on any aircraft I was in......................
It would not be comforting.
Been there done that .......in a cattle car in the summer....................
Given that usually comes in the form of a water landing, neither would I.
bwahahaha
I understand that. Still seems goofy, even without 9/11.
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Being in the business (formerly designed aircraft) windows are one of the toughest engineering challenges in an aircraft pressure vessel. It becomes even more complex now that pressure vessels will be made from wound carbon fiber.
Passengers will have to get use to the psychological effect. But knowing airline companies they won’t give a dang.
I might like that.
I love to fly and always wished planes were made of glass so I could have a 360 view.
I can’t even stand seeing animals treated this way.
Cheaper? Can my window get Seinfeld?
Me too, in a smaller aircraft. Is that a C-5?
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