Important Innovations

 Flying-V:  Fuel Efficient Alternative to Long Haul Jets Source:  The Flying-V  TU Deflt Concept and Scale Model KLM and Delft Technical University New Concept A new aircraft, the Flying-V, is a look at the exciting future of flying.  A scale model of the experimental aircraft just took flight from a military base in Germany.  The aircraft has huge wings and is designed in a V configuration.  The blended wing concept is the invention of Delft Technical University (TU Delft) of the Netherlands, funded by KLM Airlines and assisted by a support team from Airbus. Radical New Design The flying-V is a fuel efficient, long range aircraft designed as an alternative to traditional jumbo jets.  It gets 20% better fuel efficiency than a traditional Airbus A350 jet, which is today's most advanced aircraft design.  Passenger seats, baggage and fuel tanks are all built into the wings.  When full scale, it will have the capacity to hold 314 passengers....

Blended Wing MAVERICK Source:  Airbus Future of Flying & Cutting Fuel Consumption French airplane manufacturing giant Airbus just disclosed that it has developed and tested a radical new flying machine.  It's a blended wing commercial passenger jet.  The new aircraft has great promise. It cuts jet fuel consumption by 20%.  And the radical, wide bodied, V-type design opens up tremendous opportunities to redesign the cabin area for passengers. In fact, it has the capacity to accommodate many more passengers than traditional passenger jets. Model Aircraft Demonstrated at the 2020 Singapore Air Show Airbus says this is radical new aircraft design.  It says it's testing disruptive aircraft configurations like the MAVERICK to evaluate their potential use.  They will continue testing their blended wing aircraft through 2025.  They demonstrated how the concept aircraft works with a small, remote-controlled version at this week's Singapore 2020...

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 th...