Important Innovations

  World's 1st Transcontinental Light Jet                                                       Source: Honda Another Aircraft From Honda Honda is renowned for its automotive, motorcycle, power equipment, robotic technologies and now its aviation technology.  The Japan based multinational conglomerate has just unveiled its HondaJet 2600 concept.  It's the world's first transcontinental light jet and it's designed for coast to coast flights.  The aircraft's range is 2,625 miles and it can carry a pilot and eleven passengers.  The original HondaJet, that was certified for flight in 2015, has been very successful for Honda.  More than 200 planes have been sold.  With the Concept 2600, Honda wanted to build a bigger aircraft for longer haul flights. Something In the Air That's Unique Concept 2600 is a unique, new piece of aircraft design.  Honda calls it a medium sized jet with light-jet fuel efficiency.  The plane has 40% more fuel efficiency than comparable planes

Readying for Hypersonic Takeoffs Source:  Image of Hypersonic Vehicle Mach 5 Air Flow and Turbulence An intensive research effort is underway to make hypersonic and supersonic travel faster, safer, quieter and more efficient.  It's being led by a team of aeronautical engineers at the University of  Buffalo.  They are using high performance computing to understand and 3D simulate the air flow around aircraft travelling at Mach 5+.  That's very important because of the turbulence high speed travel generates for the vehicle.  Their research could lead to a new class of aircraft designs.  For a news blog on this, go to Important Innovations Collection: Moving to Hypersonic Speeds : Understanding Air Flows Around Hypersonic and Supersonic Vehicles Source:  University of Buffalo 3D computer simulation of turbulence at ...