Incredible Nasa-backed ‘flying whale’ plane of the future with ‘double bubble’ design to cut fuel & speed up departures
A INCREDIBLY futuristic plane dubbed “the disruptor” with a “double bubble” wide-body design is being developed to tackle the problem of carbon emission and noise.
The aircraft is built to fly at Mach 0.74 carrying 180 passengers domestically for upto a distance of 3,000 nautical miles.
Also known as D8 Airliner, the Aurora D8 was initiated by Aurora Flight Sciences, the MIT, and Pratt and Whitney under NASA’s sponsorship of $2.9 million.
The conceptual design of the eco-friendly passenger aircraft was first released in 2008, and development of the prototype model began in mid 2017.
Aurora’s design concept earned the moniker of “double bubble” due to its unique fuselage design which strikingly resembles a humpback whale.
Ditching the conventional aircraft design that has engines mounted under the wings, the D8 has its engines at the rear instead – allowing reduction of thrust requirements due to reduced drag and minimised inefficiency.
This is due to the Boundary Layer Ingestion Propulsion, a unique capability of the futuristic airliner that has been developed by NASA.
Aurora D8’s one of a kind propulsion system has the potential to reduce fuel burn by as much as 8.5% compared to the aircrafts flown today.
The design, which is based on the boing 737, provides additional natural lift along the nose section and offers faster turnaround – thanks to the its wider fuselage.
This will help to cut down fuel burn even beyond the achieved mark – with some estimates stating upto 49%.
Even the noise generated by the aircraft is said to be reduced by as much as 40 dB when flying at a height of Mach 0.82, compared to a Boeing 737-800.
While the Aurora D8 is still in its testing phase, the likelihood of the whale-shaped airliner making it to the production is much higher than other projects at concept stage.
To begin with, Boeing in 2017 purchased the Aurora Flight Sciences in an attempt to fast-forward things.
While the organisation continues to be independent, it is now able to benefit from Boeing’s resources and market position.
NASA has also confirmed it will continue funding the project and will help with the intense testing phase of the futuristic airline.
While the redesigning of passenger aircrafts is long overdue, the D8 offers the closest glimpse of the planes from the future – with a mission to combat environment pollution.
Another concept aircraft being developed with NASA’s support is the Boeing X-Plane, featuring 171ft long superwings.
The X-plane is designed to fly up to 592 miles/hour, making it the fastest truss-braced wing aircraft.
A full-scale demonstrator is now in the works and will test fly in just five years at the Nasa Armstrong Flight Research Center
If successful, these new models will take off to the skies in 2030-2035.