Posted on 07/28/2015 2:36:31 PM PDT by the scotsman
KLM's sleek and streamlined AHEAD aircraft is one of many proposed aircrafts that could radically change the way we fly
'The plane of the future could well be a sleek and streamlined aircraft with a “blended wing” if proposals by the Delft University of Technology in Holland and Dutch carrier KLM come to fruition.
A blended wing is one that is seamlessly connected to the plane rather than attached separately to the fuselage and it’s one of a number of innovations that has been mooted as a result of the AHEAD study the two organisations collaborated on. Standing for Advanced Hybrid Engine Aircraft Development, the study saw academics, manufacturers and aviation experts consider how higher-tech aircraft could be developed and the aviation experience enhanced.
The prototype plane’s proposed silhouette would minimise drag and so reduce fuel consumption. A totally new engine design would provide better efficiency too, with a hybrid engine and other complicated technological amendments further finessing performance.
More precise details can be found in KLM’s report on the development, but the general public is unlikely to see the results of this study in reality until about 2050. Though a long way off, it is the latest ambitious proposal for a radically different type of commercial aircraft.'
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
No.
The ‘future’ airplane will be much like a helicopter.
No rudder?
and if I only had the money ....
Click The Pic
Everybody has a blended-wing design that they’re trying to get funding for or get into production and into the market. Boeing’s X-48 is another example.
There aircraft of the future will be designed and built by Boeing.
Boeing has been researching a blended body for quite a while. I think it is the X43
We don't need no stinking RUDDER.
I think you got the right number, X48
Looks like a flying hammerhead shark.
I saw one of those banking near Pittsburgh some years ago and initally thought of broken multipane window.
Yeah, and no vertical stabilizer either.
80% body lift
Saw this flying over my property one night. Prior to the maiden voyage. Flew low, deathly quiet and only a few (4) running lights. I live in rural so cal. It was a sight that stayed with me all these years.
For the price of a terrafugia you could get a ICON A5 and a nice vehicle to tow it.
I know exactly where that picture was taken. That’s the Sierra Nevada Range of California just south of Big Pine with the edge of Tinemaha Reservoir just to the right.
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