Is this whale-shaped plane the future of the airliners?
Spotting an Airbus A380 at an airport can still create great excitement. The giant, double-decker plane can seat between 500 and 850 people. It’s an aviation giant, the biggest passenger-carrying aircraft ever to fly the skies.
But the A380 could be become small fry if another, even more outsized design takes to the skies.
The AWWA Sky Whale is a concept aircraft from Spanish designer Oscar Vinals. With three decks for passengers, it looks like a cross between a tropical fish and a sci-fi space shuttle. Does this huge design herald the future of air travel?
Bigger means better in the world of airliners; the dawn of the jet age brought in the likes of the Boeing 707, an aircraft capable of carrying more passengers quicker and faster than any propeller-driven design. In the ensuing decades, airliners have grown larger and larger. The advent of “jumbo” designs, characterised by Boeing’s 747, meant more passengers per flight, and therefore cheaper seats.
The design would use advanced technologies such as self-repairing wings to enable a near vertical take-off, and hybrid propulsion.
The design also calls for a system to redirect air flow to intake engines and to control laminar flow – in other words, to reduce turbulence around the plane and drag.
There are three factors to consider when evaluating the design of an aircraft, collectively known as the Breguet Range equation. This can be used as an estimate of efficiency.
They are: propulsive efficiency (how efficient are your engines?); aerodynamic efficiency (is lift maximised and drag minimised?); and structural efficiency (how much payload can you carry?).
Generally airlines want to fly as far as possible, with the biggest load (or largest combined weight of passengers) possible, while using as little fuel as possible. If you can maximise all three, you technically have a better aircraft design. The major airliner manufacturers have made tweaks to this equation, but have largely stayed faithful to a tried-and-trusted design.
What’s more, for a manufacturer to be able to sell a new aircraft, it has to demonstrate that it is safe. The safety regulations have evolved over a century of manned flight, but with a radical design it would be much harder to demonstrate safety.
R2: Use the gerunds below to complete these sentences about yourself.
I’m keen on… I’m fond of… I feel like… I (do not) recommend… |
I can’t stand/bear… I’m bored by/with… I hate/resent… I miss… |
flying on board a double-decker plane
flying business-class
watching sky-views
taking-off
being safe in flight
flying a sky-whale
thinking about new airplane concepts
flying aboard state-of-the-art aircraft
experiencing turbulence
considering/solving the Breguet Range equation
R3: Translate into English using the gerund and the basic vocabulary items from the text:
1. Полет на двухпалубном самолете - захватывающее мероприятие.
2. Сокращение количества используемого топлива является приоритетным фактором при разработке конструкции самолета.
3. Доказательство безопасности полета – важная задача при разработке новой конструкции самолета.
4. Перевозка большого числа пассажиров и сокращение времени полета – важные характеристики двухпалубного самолета.
5. Сокращение цен на билеты осуществимо благодаря увеличению количества пассажирских мест.
6. Уменьшение турбулентности и сопротивления воздуха возможно благодаря использованию новой конструкции самолета.
7. Увеличение подъемной силы и уменьшение сопротивления воздуха необходимо для максимизации аэродинамического качества.
8. Для оценки эффективности конструкции инженеры используют формулу дальности Бреге.