The modern airplane design works well, but from a fuel efficiency standpoint, could planes be designed more aerodynamically -- to lower drag and increase lift? Credit: RJ Huyssen/NU,RSA
Posted on 11/21/2010 4:41:47 PM PST by decimon
Airplanes do not look much like birds -- unless you were to imagine a really weird bird or a very strange plane -- but should they? This question is exactly what a pair of engineers in California and South Africa inadvertently answered recently when they set about re-thinking the ubiquitous tube-and-wings aircraft architecture from scratch in order to make airplanes more fuel efficient.
The modern airplane design works well, but from a fuel efficiency standpoint, could planes be designed more aerodynamically -- to lower drag and increase lift? Geoffrey Spedding, an engineer at the University of Southern California, and Joachim Huyssen at Northwest University in South Africa, felt they could in theory, but they lacked experimental evidence. Now they have it.
Spedding and Huyssen have made a simple modular aircraft in three configurations: a flying wing alone, then wings plus body, and then wings plus body and a tail. It turns out that they had independently re-designed a bird shape, but without specific reference to anything bird-like. They will present their experimental data with these three designs, today at the American Physical Society Division of Fluid Dynamics meeting in Long Beach, CA.
Don’t birds carry a lighter payload than the average plane?
Good point. Birds also travel much slower.
To make all of the Greenies happy, just release a Chevy Volt version of the airplane.
Just power it on batteries.
Better yet, why not come up with a windmill powered aircraft?
Energy efficiency is a laudable objective, even if the ‘Global Warming’ agenda is not. Fuel is going to be a lot more expensive in years to come, and frankly, the last thing any of us should want is to have any more dependence on the Saudi Arabs than we absolutely have to have...
Great, we can call it the Chevy “Crash and Burn”. Or maybe the Chevy Fireball.
I totally agree, but energy efficiency need not be legislated or subsidized. The free market should be in control.
They already are working on blended wing body airplanes to increase fuel efficiency.
Mr. niteowl77
Maybe God knows what He's doing.
Will this do?
http://www.electraflyer.com/articles/Wired_Electraflyer-X_09.swf
Because airplanes shaped like aardvarks fly so well...LOL
I think we're going to need a bigger bird Mr. Kelleher.
Amazing how the birds just happened to evolve with the epidome of aerodynamic styling. Mega Sarc!
BTTT!
You want a front seat on that. More wind but less heat.
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