| Submit your comments on this article |
| Science & Technology |
| Silent jet making noise in aviation circles |
| 2006-11-07 |
| A radical new 'silent jet' that looks like a giant, flying sting ray and makes the noise of a washing machine is being touted as the quiet, clean future of air travel. The conceptual design was unveiled in London on Monday by Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Cambridge University researchers. Consisting of a single shell that blends the airplane body and the wings into a seamless flying machine, from outside an airport its designers say it would sound about as noisy as a washing machine. The original idea was to hugely reduce the noise of airplanes, a move that could spell silent bliss for residents living near airports -- and could let airports expand further into highly populated areas. In a major bonus, though, the final design also promises to be about 25 per cent more fuel efficient than current planes. The silent aircraft is designed to carry 215 passengers, with a predicted passenger-mile ratio similar to a Toyota Prius hybrid car. The overall shape of the silent jet is one curved wing with air intake vents on the top of the craft, instead of below the wings. The entire craft contributes to lift, so takeoff and approach speeds can be lower, which lowers the noise generated and improves fuel efficiency. There are no flaps or hinged rear sections on the wing and engines are embedded in the aircraft. The project aims to develop aircraft by 2030. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #9 It would seem to be an excellent idea, save that evacuation routes would be constricted and the ability to debark all 600-800 people from the plane in just a few minutes could be compromised severely. I'm sure that is probably why the concept of limiting sight lines hasn't already been employed. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-11-07 22:10 |
| #8 Why not just put walls or screens in the plane along the fore/aft axis in such a fashion that the seats are divvied up into seversl short rows 2-4 seats across like current aircraft? Would this prevent the perception of tilt? I'm not joking, I really am curious. |
| Posted by: no mo uro 2006-11-07 19:01 |
| #7 By the time one of these birds rolls out the carriers will no longer be serving food or drink of any kind, so in-flight migration of airline comestibles should not be a problem. Otherwise, I predict NASA-style retort pouches. It's not like texture or flavor could possibly suffer any more if you pureed the crap. Seating of 35-50 people abreast sure could create some nasty vertigo perceptions for those at the upper end of things during banking maneuvers. The flight crew will prbably have to carry dramamine dart guns to nail hurl-prone passengers. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2006-11-07 17:30 |
| #6 It's an E-Ticket, baby! |
| Posted by: .com 2006-11-07 15:24 |
| #5 Can you say "Vomit Comet", sure you can! This is a nightmare for airline commuters : correcting banks will be like a ride on a roller coaster in the amusment parks. And god help you if you have a drink or a meal in hand when the plane has to do a corrective manuever - one side of the plane has stuff flying up, the other side has stuff slamming down. |
| Posted by: Shieldwolf 2006-11-07 15:23 |
| #4 Wat deee hell? The picture at the linked site shows a version of Boeing's Blended Wing Body design concept. This sucker was touted about by Northrop Grumman nearly 2 decades ago and was subsummed by Boeing later, right now they got a concept version being tested at Dryden for wind tests. Also I can tell you the biggest problem of why it isn't flying yet as a passenger aircraft, it has to do with tilting, you really don't want to be at one of this craft's body looking down say 4-6 aisles at the other end even during a mild banking turn. Nausea probably wont even begin to describe how bad it would get. |
| Posted by: Valentine 2006-11-07 13:54 |
| #3 And what exactly is a passenger-mile ratio? I assume it means passenger-mile/gallon of fuel? |
| Posted by: BA 2006-11-07 10:16 |
| #2 It sounds like a winner to me, customer objections to the new appearance aside. Does it fit into the standard box that the current bodies do... one of the issues with that failed Airbus design being that it was too big for current airport design? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-11-07 09:33 |
| #1 This guy should hear my washer at the 1200 rpm spin cycle. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-11-07 09:27 |