Boeing Truss-Braced Wing are airliner designs studied by Boeing with braced, high aspect ratio wings.
Boeing Truss-Braced Wing are airliner designs studied by Boeing with braced, high aspect ratio wings.
SUGAR Volt is the hybrid aircraft concept proposed by a team led by Boeing's Research & Technology division. It is one of a series of concepts put forward in response to a request for proposals for future aircraft issued by NASA. It is proposed that SUGAR Volt would use two hybrid turbofans that burn conventional jet fuel when taking off, then use electric motors to power the engines while flying. SUGAR stands for Subsonic Ultragreen Aircraft Research; "Volt" suggests that it would be at least partly powered by electricity.
SUGAR Volt would have emissions about 70 percent lower than average airliners today. Noise pollution will also be lower than airliners today. This hybrid-electric approach however remains to be balanced against increased complexity, large electric engine and battery size and weight. Relying partly on electric power might reduce specific fuel consumption (SFC) compared to a standard turbine-only design (turbofan or lower-consumption turboprops).
SUGAR Volt is designed with a long, braced, high aspect ratio wing that decreases induced drag due to lift. The wings of SUGAR Volt would enable it to take off in a shorter distance and generate less noise. The outer wings of the SUGAR Volt should fold to save ground space, increasing weight.
Using a shortened MD-90 airframe, a full-scale Sustainable Flight Demonstrator (SFD), designated X-66A, [1] [2] should fly in 2028, outlining a possible family of 130-to-210-seat aircraft. [3]
A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can take off and land vertically without relying on a runway. This classification can include a variety of types of aircraft including helicopters as well as thrust-vectoring fixed-wing aircraft and other hybrid aircraft with powered rotors such as cyclogyros/cyclocopters and gyrodynes.
A supersonic transport (SST) or a supersonic airliner is a civilian supersonic aircraft designed to transport passengers at speeds greater than the speed of sound. To date, the only SSTs to see regular service have been Concorde and the Tupolev Tu-144. The last passenger flight of the Tu-144 was in June 1978 and it was last flown in 1999 by NASA. Concorde's last commercial flight was in October 2003, with a November 26, 2003 ferry flight being its last airborne operation. Following the permanent cessation of flying by Concorde, there are no remaining SSTs in commercial service. Several companies have each proposed a supersonic business jet, which may bring supersonic transport back again.
A propfan, also called an open rotor engine, or unducted fan, is a type of aircraft engine related in concept to both the turboprop and turbofan, but distinct from both. The design is intended to offer the speed and performance of a turbofan, with the fuel economy of a turboprop. A propfan is typically designed with a large number of short, highly twisted blades, similar to the (ducted) fan in a turbofan engine. For this reason, the propfan has been variously described as an "unducted fan" (UDF) or an "ultra-high-bypass (UHB) turbofan".
The Boeing X-48 is an American experimental unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) built to investigate the characteristics of blended wing body (BWB) aircraft. Boeing designed the X-48 and two examples were built by Cranfield Aerospace in the UK. Boeing began flight testing the X-48B version for NASA in 2007. The X-48B was later modified into the X-48C version, which was flight tested from August 2012 to April 2013. Boeing and NASA plan to develop a larger BWB demonstrator.
An airplane, or aeroplane, informally plane, is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and wing configurations. The broad spectrum of uses for airplanes includes recreation, transportation of goods and people, military, and research. Worldwide, commercial aviation transports more than four billion passengers annually on airliners and transports more than 200 billion tonne-kilometers of cargo annually, which is less than 1% of the world's cargo movement. Most airplanes are flown by a pilot on board the aircraft, but some are designed to be remotely or computer-controlled such as drones.
A blended wing body (BWB), also known as blended body, hybrid wing body (HWB) or a lifting aerofoil fuselage, is a fixed-wing aircraft having no clear dividing line between the wings and the main body of the craft. The aircraft has distinct wing and body structures, which are smoothly blended together with no clear dividing line. This contrasts with a flying wing, which has no distinct fuselage, and a lifting body, which has no distinct wings. A BWB design may or may not be tailless.
An electric aircraft is an aircraft powered by electricity. Electric aircraft are seen as a way to reduce the environmental effects of aviation, providing zero emissions and quieter flights. Electricity may be supplied by a variety of methods, the most common being batteries. Most have electric motors driving propellers or turbines.
A hydrogen-powered aircraft is an aeroplane that uses hydrogen fuel as a power source. Hydrogen can either be burned in a jet engine or another kind of internal combustion engine, or can be used to power a fuel cell to generate electricity to power an electric propulsor. It cannot be stored in a traditional wet wing, and hydrogen tanks have to be housed in the fuselage or be supported by the wing.
The fuel economy in aircraft is the measure of the transport energy efficiency of aircraft. Fuel efficiency is increased with better aerodynamics and by reducing weight, and with improved engine brake-specific fuel consumption and propulsive efficiency or thrust-specific fuel consumption. Endurance and range can be maximized with the optimum airspeed, and economy is better at optimum altitudes, usually higher. An airline efficiency depends on its fleet fuel burn, seating density, air cargo and passenger load factor, while operational procedures like maintenance and routing can save fuel.
The Vertical Take-Off and Landing Experimental Aircraft program is an American research project sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The goal of the program is to demonstrate a VTOL aircraft design that can take off vertically and efficiently hover, while flying faster than conventional rotorcraft. There have been many previous attempts, most of them unsuccessful.
The ecoDemonstrator Program is a Boeing flight test research program, which has used a series of specially modified aircraft to develop and test aviation technologies designed to improve fuel economy and reduce the noise and ecological footprint of airliners.
The NASA X-57 Maxwell was an experimental aircraft being developed by NASA, intended to demonstrate technology to reduce fuel use, emissions, and noise. The first flight of the X-57 was scheduled to take place in 2023, but the program was cancelled due to problems with the propulsion system.
The Aurora D8, also known as the D8 Airliner, is an airliner concept under development as of mid 2017. The project was initiated in 2008 by Aurora Flight Sciences, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Pratt & Whitney under NASA's sponsorship of $2.9 million.
The Airbus/Rolls-Royce/Siemens E-Fan X was a hybrid electric aircraft demonstrator being developed by a partnership of Airbus, Rolls-Royce plc and Siemens. Announced on 28 November 2017, it followed previous electric flight demonstrators towards sustainable transport for the European Commission’s Flightpath 2050 Vision. A BAe 146 flying testbed was to have one of its four Lycoming ALF502 turbofans replaced by a Siemens 2 MW (2,700 hp) electric motor, adapted by Rolls-Royce and powered by its AE2100 turboshaft, controlled and integrated by Airbus with a 2 t (4,400 lb) battery. In April 2020, the programme was cancelled during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Boom Overture is a proposed Mach 1.7, 64–80 passenger supersonic airliner with 4,250 nmi of range, which is planned to be introduced in 2029 by Boom Technology. The company claims that with 500 viable routes, there could be a market for 1,000 supersonic airliners with business class fares. It had gathered 76 commitments by December 2017. The aircraft is planned to have a delta wing configuration, but will be built with composite materials. Following a redesign revealed in 2022 it is intended to be powered by four dry (non-afterburning) 35,000 lbf (160 kN) turbofans. Regulations for takeoff noise or overland boom can be met or changed.
A hybrid electric aircraft is an aircraft with a hybrid electric powertrain. As the energy density of lithium-ion batteries is much lower than aviation fuel, a hybrid electric powertrain may effectively increase flight range compared to pure electric aircraft. By May 2018, there were over 30 hybrid electric aircraft projects, and short-haul hybrid-electric airliners were envisioned from 2032.
The CFM International RISE is an open rotor engine currently under development by CFM International, a 50–50 joint venture between American GE Aerospace and French Safran Aircraft Engines. The engine is planned to support both hydrogen and sustainable aviation fuels, and it plans to achieve a 20% reduction in fuel burn and in carbon dioxide emissions compared to its predecessors.
The Boeing X-66 is an experimental airliner under development by Boeing. It is part of the X-plane series, and is being developed in collaboration with NASA and its Sustainable Flight Demonstrator program. It will use an extra-long and thin wing design stabilized by diagonal bracing struts, which is known as a Transonic Truss-Braced Wing. The aircraft configuration is based on research studies referred to as "Subsonic Ultra-Green Aircraft Reach (SUGAR)" which extensively studied truss-bracing and hybrid electric technologies.
Marty Bradley is an American aerospace engineer who specializes in advanced propulsion, electric aircraft, and sustainable aviation. He is a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), an adjunct professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering practice at the University of Southern California (USC), and a sustainable aviation consultant.