New Boeing X-48B Blended Wing cargo plane.

[Johnny Rico]

Have you guys seen this?

Think B-2 Stealth Bomber, but give it extended conventional-looking wings, vertical tail stabalizer, and wing connards, and instead of loading it with bombs, load it with cargo.

Found this on the NASA website:
http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/improvingflight/skyray_48.html

And then here's a photo gallery:
http://www1.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/X-48B/index.html

And I'm tellin' ya, by the looks of this thing, it could easily be mistaken for a UFO.

Apparently this plane is an effort to come up with a more effective and fuel efficient way to carry cargo with a more aerodynamic design.

 

[yenny]

I think they started working on it since the mid eighties or nineties.

 

[tharpdevenport]

Yeah, read about this years ago; possibly in Popular Mechanic or Popular Science.

 

[Brent]

when will they actually build one?

 

[Marc]

Brent said:
when will they actually build one?

Very good question - the blended wing/flying wing concept has been around for decades.

Only problem was they weren't overly stable with manual flight systems (Northrop developed a flying wing prototype in late 1940s but found that it difficult to fly. Hence when the B2 was unveiled Charles Northrop was invited to the ceremony).

It's only been the advent of fly by wire, computer control etc etc that have made them possible yet we still don't seem any closer to one being taken to prototype state let along in service.

 

[TheSeeker]

Very cool. Am I the only one who thinks this thing looks like a stingray?

 

[Johnny Rico]

TheSeeker said:
Very cool. Am I the only one who thinks this thing looks like a stingray?

No, because the NASA article itself refers to the craft as a "Manta-shaped craft".

 

[FemurBone]

If this is more fuel efficient then they should make an air liner version.

 

[SamuraiBlue]

FemurBone said:
If this is more fuel efficient then they should make an air liner version.

It has too many down side for passangers such as difficult in securing escape route in case of emergency, the passangers seating near the wings will suffer severe inclining position when the plane make turns, and so on.

 

[Johnny Rico]

SamuraiBlue said:

FemurBone said:
If this is more fuel efficient then they should make an air liner version.

It has too many down side for passangers such as difficult in securing escape route in case of emergency, the passangers seating near the wings will suffer severe inclining position when the plane make turns, and so on.

Yeah, but wouldn't that be fun?

Flight Attendant: "Now for the passengers on the right, if you look to your left, you will see their asses way above yours."

 

[SchwEnt]

Right, I've read many similar statements about any new kind of aeroplane design other than a tube-and-wings design.

Flying wing or manta-shaped or flying saucer or whatever ya got...none of it will ever be realized if it can't fit into existing passenger terminal gates or cargo handling facilities worldwide.

So unless airports worldwide start re-designing their infrastructure, we'll never really see commercial aircraft other than tubes-with-wings

 

[FemurBone]

^ they can just leave the aircraft on the field and have people board it from there.

 

[USS Mariner]

SamuraiBlue said:

FemurBone said:
If this is more fuel efficient then they should make an air liner version.

It has too many down side for passangers such as difficult in securing escape route in case of emergency, the passangers seating near the wings will suffer severe inclining position when the plane make turns, and so on.

They could just stuff people in the middle of the craft, and stuff all of their crap into the wings, along with the fuel.

Rather than making a raised "hump" in the airframe to allow side windows, they could make some really neat, UV-coated skylights, which would be a welcome change. If you want dark, pull up a personal blind or something.

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

That wouldn't work well for two reasons: first, you need room for everyone's personal baggage (sic), and second, the disffusion of overhiead light wouldn't be directed enough anyway like overhead lights on plane today - there's no way you could have a "personal skylight" without annoying a neighbor.

This is not to say the design still isn't viable - today's widebodied jets have been working fine with four-person center rows, so twelve or fourteen person overall rows would still be possible. Also, the advent of personal TVs on planes these day for ALL classes (especially on carriers like Frontier or Westjet) makes all but the most claustrophoic of people capable of dealing with flight. Evacuation remains the only major hurdle.

Mark