Over a century of commercial aviation, from the Ford Trimotor in the 1920s to today’s Boeing and Airbus jetliners, there’s been one constant: Airplanes are virtually always long tubes sporting wings with engines bolted on underneath and a tail stabilizer at the back. Inside there’s a similarly standard layout—one or two aisles flanked by rows of seats, notwithstanding occasional extravagances such as staircases or bars for premium-class passengers.
Startup JetZero is taking aim at that design with a radical proposition: a triangle-shaped aircraft resembling a giant manta ray in the sky, boasting a shorter fuselage that’s wide enough to contribute to the lift needed to keep the thing airborne. Gone is the tail, with two engines piggybacked onto the rear taking its place to provide both power and stability.
JetZero says its design has several advantages over traditional aircraft: It’s quieter, it’s more stable, and it uses interior space more efficiently, with a triangular cabin that has three aisles to ease bottlenecks during boarding. It’s also lighter, requiring engines no bigger than those on today’s single-aisle models. The startup says its so-called blended-wing aircraft could haul as many as 250 people—the capacity of a widebody jet such as Boeing’s 767—while burning half the fuel.
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*From Bloomberg News reporter Julie Johnsson:*
Over a century of commercial aviation, from the Ford Trimotor in the 1920s to today’s Boeing and Airbus jetliners, there’s been one constant: Airplanes are virtually always long tubes sporting wings with engines bolted on underneath and a tail stabilizer at the back. Inside there’s a similarly standard layout—one or two aisles flanked by rows of seats, notwithstanding occasional extravagances such as staircases or bars for premium-class passengers.
Startup JetZero is taking aim at that design with a radical proposition: a triangle-shaped aircraft resembling a giant manta ray in the sky, boasting a shorter fuselage that’s wide enough to contribute to the lift needed to keep the thing airborne. Gone is the tail, with two engines piggybacked onto the rear taking its place to provide both power and stability.
JetZero says its design has several advantages over traditional aircraft: It’s quieter, it’s more stable, and it uses interior space more efficiently, with a triangular cabin that has three aisles to ease bottlenecks during boarding. It’s also lighter, requiring engines no bigger than those on today’s single-aisle models. The startup says its so-called blended-wing aircraft could haul as many as 250 people—the capacity of a widebody jet such as Boeing’s 767—while burning half the fuel.
A good intro to the basics of aviation from a fuel / climate perspective: https://withouthotair.com/cC/page_269.shtml
They’re been dreaming up flying wings for 30 years. I don’t think one is any closer to being used.