DailyDirt: Cool New Planes

Studies

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Futuristic-looking jet planes used to inspire all kinds of technology geeks, back when commercial flying was a relatively new venture. Over the years, though, the airline industry has matured quite a bit, and commercial plane designs don’t really look that unique anymore. But that doesn’t mean engineers aren’t coming up with novel plane designs. Here are a few cool new planes that could take to the skies in the not too distant future.

• Supersonic planes have a problem of creating a “sonic boom” when they travel faster than the speed of sound, causing all kinds of headaches for commercial and military operations. A new biplane design with twin wings would have a much reduced sonic boom, as each wing could cancel out the effects of the other (at least in theory & simulations). [url]
• NASA is interested in liquified natural gas (LNG) propulsion for creating super fuel efficient airplanes. Planes fueled by LNG won’t be ready for at least three generations of airplane technologies (aka N+3 airliners), so don’t expect to see any before 2030. [url]
• The first production aircraft to completely satisfy FAA spin resistance standards will likely improve the safety of non-commercial general aviation. Icon Aircraft’s A5 amphibious light sport aircraft is a two-seater plane design that greatly reduces the plane’s potential to stall out or go into an uncontrollable spin. [url]
• To discover more cool sites about aviation, check out what’s currently flying around StumbleUpon. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Filed Under: aviation, flight, fuel sources, planes