Next Aviation Frontier - Blended Wing Planes
Flying Innovation with Greater Fuel Efficiency - Aviation Futures Source: NASA Prototype BWB plane Blended Wing Body Aircraft This is aviation innovation being developed globally. The plane architecture is called BWB or Blended Wing Bodies. It's also being developed as Hybrid Wing Bodies. No doubt it is potentially revolutionary innovation. It's a fixed winged aircraft with no distinction between the wing and body and it can have a tail or not. Bottom-line: it can save significant fuel usage. Prototype Concepts Under Development The potential advantages of this type of new aircraft include efficient high lift wings and could include a wide airfoil shaped body. The blended wing body can have a lift to drag ratio much greater than conventional planes. That would result in much greater fuel efficiency. Global Competition and Interest There are a lot of defense contractors, governments and global universities working to bring this technology to market. It in