Will the planes look like the future?

Aircraft technology has evolved a lot over the years. Airplanes are able to travel longer distances more fuel-efficient than ever before, and that's great.

But basically, we have not seen any radical changes in the design of commercial aircraft, at least aesthetically. For example, the wings are next to the fuselage and the engines are usually on the wings (at the time, the aircraft with three planes often had a motor on the top of the fuselage, but this is no longer the case for all major aircraft in production).

Although we've seen all kinds of goofy prototypes over the years, what the planes might look like in the future, but I usually assume they were designed by 11-year-old Paint enthusiasts, without thinking too much about science.

Well, an airline supports a radically different aircraft concept, which I can not stop sharing here.

The concept "Flying V"

In the Netherlands, TU Delft is working on a "Flying V" concept and KLM is providing support (including financial support) for this project.

The intention is that this radically new aircraft design consumes very little energy and can operate on very long-haul flights. As you can see, the design of the aircraft incorporates in the wings the passenger cabin, the luggage compartment and the fuel tank, which creates the shape.

The plane could carry 314 passengers, which would require 20% less fuel compared to the Airbus A350, which is also one of the most efficient aircraft in the world.

Here is a short video on the concept:

The plane would have a length of 55 meters and a wingspan of 65 meters. Thus, the size would be the same as that of the A350, while the plane would be much shorter.

For this reason, they say that the aircraft could use the same infrastructure at airports, including gates, runways and hangars.

A small prototype should fly in October 2019, but it will only be a tiny mockup of what the full plane would look like.

Roelof Vos, project manager at TU Delft, said:

"The Flying-V is smaller than the A350 and has a smaller input area than the available volume. The result is less resistance. This means that the Flying-V needs less fuel for the same distance. "

Could we ever see this plane fly?

Obviously, I'm not an aeronautical engineer or a rocket scientist, so that's what I think. When I saw this concept for the first time, I assumed it was a great idea that could work in theory, but it was also a gadget and KLM was behind this project because it makes them more attractive to invest in the future.

But the more I look at the details, the more it does not seem so crazy. In particular, the fact that the airport infrastructure would not have to change much is in favor of that.

However, for something so radically different, I can not even imagine how much money would be invested in the design of the aircraft, and how much money would be needed. Although reducing fuel consumption by 20% is a good thing, I am not sure that the savings made are sufficient to guarantee the amount corresponding to such a thing.

The other big problem is that, even if science permits, I wonder if this could actually be certified to fly. In other words, is this type of concept as safe for emergency evacuations as a traditional aircraft? My inclination is no, but of course I can be wrong.

What do you think – will we ever see something like the "Flying-V" concept in heaven?