From the enticingly-named Boeing "Phantom Works" team we learn of some work being carried out on a new type of aircraft fuselage - the so-called "blended wing". It's probably easier to show you what it looks like rather than try to describe it:
This is one of the first operational prototype aircraft in an entirely new way to think about building aircraft. Although our industry has made some pretty amazing technological leaps over the past hundred years and the latest aircraft may be built from entirely different materials, the overall design is still basically the same - a long tube with wings and a tail.
The blended wing is one potential option to change this - and entirely re-think the aerodynamics and fuel efficiency of passenger aircraft in the future. There are other options on plane designer drawing boards (we've talked about them before), but this option is the latest to be involved in actual flight trials. The smaller-than-life scale model called the X-48B is being tested at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Check out the Wired.com piece on the trials, with a set of photos of the plane. Although the end result in a few decades may not look quite like this, it is another step on the way towards a new aircraft type.
One witty commentor at Wired.com said: "What is this? A plane for ants? It needs to be… at least 3 times this big!!!" (a reference to this scene from the hit movie Zoolander). Hopefully it will be at some point in the future. It is this type of extremely high-end technology that will be part of our effort to reduce aviation emissions by 2050 to half of what they were in 2005.
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