How would you feel about flying in an airplane’s wing, the place where we all know fuel is usually stored? Because that’s exactly what you’ll do in the not so distant future if Dutch airline KLM has its way.
An airline has two main goals: transport as many passengers as possible, hence earning cash, and burn as little fuel as possible, thus saving some.
The first goal generated some crazy ideas on how to cram as many people as possible into a single flying cylinder. These ideas ranged from stacking people on top of each other like crates to having them stand up during the flight, over the years.
When it comes to fuel saving, the problem is a bit more complicated, and only a handful of ideas were presented, including hybrid airplanes and some powered by synthetic jet fuel.
But some guy in Europe has another idea, one that could reshape airplanes forever. As in literally reshape them.
Justus Benad, a student at Technischen Universität Berlin, designed the Flying-V, a V-shaped concept airplane that integrates the passenger cabin, the cargo hold and the fuel tanks into the two wings.
This construction, the engineer says, could allow a fuel reduction of 20 percent compared to the Airbus A350 while keeping roughly the same number of seats (314), cargo volume (160 cubic meters) and dimensions.
The student presented his idea as part of his thesis project at Airbus Hamburg, and it was so well received that Dutch airline KLM decided to invest.
The first flight of a Flying-V in the form of a prototype is expected to take place in October 2019. KLM is hopeful that with enough work and money, the actual flying wing airplane will enter commercial service no later than 2050.
No details on how much money KLM will pour into this project were provided.
Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies. Full profile
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