@Aturayd: "I just cant wait until they put a credit card swiper at the lavatories..."

Oh, now that's just crazy. That's like saying, "wait until they start charging you exorbitant fees for your normal luggage and carry-ons." As if that kind of thing could ever really...

Oh. Wait.

bosskev

@vista64guy: It isn't some monumental leap forward really. Hell a 787 has a 43,000' operational ceiling, and max cruise speed for it is 510 Knots...

We're mostly limited to ~.85 mach for efficiency reasons at the moment. Boeing was going to build a plane prior to the 787 that would have cruised at like .97 mach, but w/ the rapid run-up in fuel costs the last few years, that plan was scrapped outright in favor of the 787's increased fuel efficiency.

What amazes me is that a plane designed in the 60's is still being revised and improved 40 years later. (747 Series)

Lite

@Lite: well, with ETOPS-180 and ETOPS-207 regulations, twin-engine aircraft can reach about 95% of the world. Routing may not be quite as favorable, but they can still get there.

My curiosity, though, is where's the vertical and horizontal stabilizers? Or are the winglets sufficient for yaw control? The horizontal stabilizer on conventional planes also allow for large variations in CG of the plane that you don't find so much in a "flying wing" design. Don't know how well this'll work for commercial service...

misler

Pretty soon a 'seat' on a plane will be a luxury. The rest of us will pay $800 for a domestic 'standing only' position.

I just cant wait until they put a credit card swiper at the lavatories...

Aturayd

lol, riiight.

Giz, you done got played. This thing is vaporware. Passenger planes peaked at the Concord, we're now getting lamer and lamer planes with every generation. We're using a plane design that's over fifty years old, and that's not going to change any time soon what with the new Great Depression going on. BTW do you want to buy some chiclets?

mullingitover

I see a basic DC10 body, enlarged and then stuck on cool wings. I should have been an aerospace engineer.

Also, if it's only 15mph faster than the 747-8 like Lite says, and it flys much higher. Isn't it actually slower? Because the high altitude means a larger circumference to traverse?

I do see one huge advantage though. Skydiving with oxygen and thermal gear for a solid 3 minutes. Good times.

vista64guy

So, basically right now it's a pretty picture and mostly vaporware that will require billions of dollars of investment in manufacturing processes, materials development, and will be turned into another sardine can like the current generation of aircraft when and if it makes it to production?

Let's see, it flies... 15 mph faster on paper than a 747-8 at cruising speed. It is also only a twin-engine design which limits some routing as well.

Lite

We can hope? What does it take these days to develop a new fleet of planes? 100 billion?
The definitely need to think of somethin like hella quick and stuff

efenili

A few years back, Popular Science had an article about possible supersonic passenger jets of the future to replace the aging Concorde.

I particularly liked the "oblique flying wing" design of one. The passenger compartment was in the wing itself, with the engines below rotating to the oblique position when at supersonic speeds.

ackthbbft

This is how the future will sound like too.

admoseremic

@spider2544: "...and no rudder thingys."

If you're going to comment on a technical blog, the least you could do is not show your ignorance by using ridiculous terminology. The correct phrase is rudder thingies.

Sheesh.

bosskev

@Lite: It's really amazing how long we have been able to milk the innovation of the 50's & 60's. A lot of the dramatic inventions came as a result of funding of fundamental science. I really hope to see the U.S. keep that up, or get it back up to at least cold-war levels.

vista64guy

@Aturayd: The airlines might be watching, don't give them any more "great" ideas.

hooked-on-tronics

@mullingitover:

Until demand gets there we don't need new radical designs, just the safe ones.

BTW, not close to a Great Depression.

br4nd0n

@Lite: Back when the NDP was in power here in British Columbia they spent billions making new, faster, fancier ferries (say that 3 times fast, lets go) to take people from the mainland to Vancouver Island. What they didn't consider was that the new faster ferries would have to wait in line while the old slower ferries unloaded and loaded, essentially making the new ferries just as slow as the old ferries. I believe we sold the new ferries for about 1/10th of their original cost. Good times. I wonder if the same problems would affect something like a new, faster plane?

hooked-on-tronics

wtf happened to the tail its jsut a jet and no rudder thingys.

spider2544

One of the big reasons that looks "sleeker" than the A380 is that it's nose comes to a symmetrical tapered point. That's a fine design on a single decker plane, but on a double-decker like this, it means a lot of wasted space. Look how much of the forward space is lacking in windows; that's utterly wasted space. A tiny fraction is needed for the cockpit, but compare that to the A380 to see how little space you can get away with. It's all those little inconsistencies that make it rather obvious this is very much a design, rather than a fully thought out proposal.

icelight

All sleeper. That's funny. They're going to cram as many seats as humanly possible. Tray tables? Nope, no room. Oh, if you're over 5'11" you're going to have to sit with your feet up on your seat and hug your knees. They'll be able to fit 600 passengers at $1000 a seat, oh, your meal will be $20 and sodas are going to be $5 each, no refill. Fucking airlines should all be permanently grounded. You want to talk to grandma across the pond? Use skype.

Barry99705

It's interesting. It seems practical enough for the near future... however the real future probably wont even consist of flying anyways, so it depends on how futuristic are you talking about. ;p

Sentry

@efenili: They should ask the govt for a bailout.

myotheralt

The "cool wings" will mean that the plane cannot fit in most gates in most current airports, and will probably need to pay more for parking too, considering it's going to take up more airport land area, adding up to inconvenience and potentially an even more expensive plane ticket for you.

Sadly, "practical" and "cool" rarely go together, and in an industry with high and rising costs like aerospace, every little bit of "practical" matters.

net_addict

I'm waiting for the flying wing concept that Boeing has been testing. I know there appear to be problems... but, that's the real key to a party plane. There'd be enough room in there to play a very odd, inertia influenced version of shuffleboard.

OwensDad

@net_addict: I'm surprised nobody picked up on it before. This thing looks like it would require rebuilding most airports to fit in...

borgseawolf

@myotheralt: lol, great answer!

Rustabout

Sorry, Stratos. Your powers ARE astounding, but the Super League selects only one recruit this year.

markarian

@Aturayd: The first time I have to swipe a card to crap mid-flight, I'll shit in the aisle. Who's gonna stop me?

Brad

@vista64guy: Isn't it amazing all the innovations in technology war brings?

closhedbb

@misler: I was wondering the same thing. Sure it looks futuristic and all, but that design will make it so much more dependant on computer for stable flight. That thing would probably have one hell of a landing distance due to the fact that it would have to come in pretty fast. Kinda tough to flare well with only ailerons. Unless they want to use drag chutes like an F-117.

closhedbb

y'all know that no matter how big they can make an airplane, they'll just pack it as tightly as possible for bigger profits right?

SudiptiEquestridomus

@closhedbb: Many newer jet aircraft systems at this point are depending more upon electronics and electric motivation rather than hydraulic. So, that's pretty normal for the current evolution of aircraft.

Lite

@hooked-on-tronics: So, they sold the newer ferries, rather than expand upon the infrastructure to dock them by selling off a few slower older ones?? Sounds like government

Lite

The last planes ever made were the 787 & A380. Humans are done making new planes.

heroineworshipper

@vista64guy: the increase in operational ceiling/altitude should not have a material effect on the distance traveled. please recall that the circumference of a circle is pi*d, so increasing the altitude of circumnavigating the earth by 1 mile increases the distance traveled by 3.14 miles.

EudoraTapir

@heroineworshipper:

No design is perfect, people will be redesigning the craft used to travel as long as we continue to use them. Car designs are revised, our spacecraft are going to be redesigned shortly, aircraft are no different.

Cake_Eater