Plane Talking

Results tagged “efficient” from Plane Talking

The 'city car' in the sky

By
Haldane
on October 1, 2009 6:37 PM |

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ATR_42-600_web.jpg

At a ceremony today in Toulouse, the regional aircraft manufacturer ATR presented their newest product, the ATR 72-600, the first in what’s going to be the ATR ‘-600 series’. The new aircraft is which has been designed specifically to have the lowest possible fuel consumption and CO2 emissions per passenger.  These regional turboprop aircraft are already pretty efficient for short hops, so the latest designs must be even better.

ATR have nick-named the 72-600 the ‘city car in the sky’ due to its high efficiency in short-haul flights, flight trials started in July this year, and the aircraft is predicted to enter into commercial service in 2011. Some more information is available here (article in French) and check out this very stylish promotional video for the aircraft.

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Setting goals

By
Haldane
on January 22, 2009 5:13 PM |

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GreenairOnline this week has an interesting feature interview with British Airways’ new head of environment, Jonathan Counsell who provides details of BA’s new corporate responsibility project, One Destination. BA has set itself a goal of reducing emissions by one quarter by 2025 and by half in 2050. As the article says, “the goal is to reduce the number of grams of CO2 per passenger kilometre by 25% from 111g in 2005 to 83g by 2025.” By contrast, the European Commission mandates that new cars should emit no more than 140g of CO2 per kilometre.

BA's new target will enable the airline to reduce its net carbon output from 16 million tonnes in 2005 to eight million by mid-century. This is a significant goal and runs alongside the goals that have been set by IATA (25% more efficient in 2020 compared to 2005), the Air Transport Association of America (30% more efficient in 2025 compared to 2005) and a number of other industry associations and companies.

BA's project is further evidence of the aviation industry's progress towards carbon neutral growth and a carbon free future. Now that's impressive, what do you think? 

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It really depends on what you call exciting.

By
Haldane
on December 8, 2008 8:55 PM |

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gearedturbofan.jpg

Call us geeks, planespotters or nerds, but sometimes we do get excited about things that you'd be hard-pressed getting anyone else excited about. Take, for example, the Pratt & Whitney 'geared turbofan'. This brand new aircraft engine - being called the PurePower PW1000G - has been undergoing testing, first on a Boeing 747 and most recently on an Airbus A340 in France.

Initially the engine, which uses gears (much like in a car) to better control the speed of the fanblades, will be used on the 130-seat Bombardier C-Series aircraft due to enter service in around 2013. Pratt & Whitney say that the new engine will be up to 15% more fuel efficient than the model it replaces and, critically, it will also be a lot quieter than most engines of its size. The initial phase of testing will be complete by the end of this year.

Anyway, if my description didn't get you excited, maybe this short video will. It's from just before the flight testing started earlier this year, but I only just found it on YouTube:

 

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Powerplants are not electric daffodils...

By
Haldane
on October 20, 2008 7:08 PM |

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Interesting news in today's Guardian, as Rolls-Royce give us a glimpse of the work underway on the next generation of turboprop aircraft engines. They will reportedly be up to 30% more fuel-efficient than current jet aircraft powerplants and, importantly, just as quiet. Behind the scenes, work is believed to be underway from Pratt & Whitney, General Electric Aviation, CFM International and Snecma on similarly efficient engines. As the article points out, open-rotor systems have been looked at before, but dropped due to noise concerns. Now it seems, technology is catching up and the new generation of open-rotor can be expected to be much quieter, as well as being more efficient.

Despite some public perceptions (including among a few of my friends...), turboprops are modern, efficient and often quite spacious aircraft to fly in - the cabin experience on the Bombardier Q series and the ATR 42 and 72 is very similar to narrowbody jets on the market. The only difference is people thinking the aircraft looks older, simply because of the engines. With the heightened drive for environmental and fuel efficiency, passengers should realise that, particularly on short hops, turboprops make a lot of sense.

In other engine technology news, AviationWeek reports that Pratt & Whitney have begun flight testing of their new geared turbofan on an A340. This new type of engine will initially be used on the narrowbody Bombardier C-Series aircraft and is reportedly 10% - 15% more efficient than the jets currently flying on those aircraft. Engine manufacturers may also be looking into the possibility of using this revolutionary new material, said to be 500 times stronger than steel and yet 10 times lighter... but perhaps only if the scientists rename it something more sophisticated than 'buckypaper'.

- Image by Flckr user Pete Gray 1

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