Finally a new toy in town? Not yet….
AIRBUS revealed its new design to cut the level of Carbon Emissions in the Singapore Airshow this February.
The design is named MAVERIC, an acronym for “Model Aircraft for Validation and Experimentation of Robust Innovative Control”. The design features blended-wing design which if successful reduces fuel consumption by approximately 20% as compared to contemporary single isle designs.
The project was launched in 2017. Early flight tests began in June 2019.
What’s New about this design?
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Source: Airbus
Blended- wing design employs futuristic computer generated designs, enhanced flow modelling, and cutting edge testing techniques. This results in a superb aerodynamics where both wing and fuselage produce lift which significantly reduces drag, thereby reducing the fuel consumption. Contemporary designs have separate fuselage and wings where fuselage produces drag, and wings create lift.
The design exploits composite materials as far as practicable. Blended wings also mean less joints, rivets and welds. Also reduced is the requirement of structural reinforcement for the wing-fuselage integration. This reduces in overall empty weight of the aircraft, significantly.
Is that all?
No.
Reduction in fuel consumption is only one side of the design. The blended wing concept opens up a new paradigm for creative cabin designers. The cabin space extends to parts of wings which would otherwise only be the used for carrying fuel. In a world, where cabin have continuously been more and more squeezed, the availability of additional space would be a sigh of relief to the passengers.
Also, new propulsion system may be designed and incorporated in the MAVERIC. Although the current test model features two turbofan engines, a complete electric propulsion system or a hybrid system would be a new area of research, during the race to find a perfect propulsion system to this aircraft.
How the new design performs shall only be known when the prototype extends its wings in the air. For now, it would be too optimistic to imagine seeing this new toy out of your window seat in the near future.
