Innovative developments in the field of aircraft manufacturing. The future of aviation. Prospective projects of airplanes and helicopters. New passenger aircraft
Second largest Russian airline S7 Aero From an airline that takes passengers from point A to point B, it wants to transform itself into a user-friendly service company. To do this, it will invest in artificial intelligence and Big Data to collect information about customers, to the blockchain to save on fuel, and will even create a new ultra-light jet business jet. S7, together with the Skolkovo innovation center, has already announced a startup competition to find the most technologically advanced solutions at the best price.
Alexander Kryazhev / RIA Novosti
In search of technology
Five winners of the competition will receive 500 thousand rubles each. from S7 Group (parent company of S7 Aero) and 5 million rubles each. from the Skolkovo Foundation. S7 Group - not only major airline, but also the first private space company in Russia that is working on creating a reusable rocket and intends to compete with Space X Elon Musk. Space flights require high technology and innovative solutions. However, Senior Vice President of S7 Group Tatiana Fileva(daughter of the owners of S7 Group Vladislav And Natalia Fileva) argues that the space industry is much more conservative than the aviation industry. Indeed, S7 Aero was the first airline to introduce e-ticket, mobile boarding pass (in 2007); was the first to use blockchain (in 2017) and the first to launch startups to implement new projects. Her business doubled in six years. But the S7 is not going to stop there; startups were needed for development.
Inspire to travel
« Our goal is to inspire people to travel and make their organization simple and convenient“says the director of customer support at S7 Travel Retail Alexandra Gribkova.
The company wants to develop an algorithm for personalized offers of airline tickets and other services based on data collected about passengers. The company will create passenger profiles based on their previous requests for air tickets, taxis, hotels, and shopping. For example, you book a ticket to Tyumen, and the airline offers you options: how to get from the airport and where to stay.
« We must provide the right price at the right time to the right buyer.", the company says.
To form the “right price”, competitors’ fares and flight schedules, news (important are, for example, sporting events, festivals, etc. - data is aggregated from the Expo Map website), and customer data are analyzed. That is, Big Data is collected, on the basis of which a forecast of future purchases will be made. S7 is not the only company that fights for customer loyalty with the help of big data: today, say, Aeroflot is doing this. Toth uses big data to analyze customer reviews, including social networks.
To make it more convenient to purchase air tickets and other S7 services, a mobile application will be created that will be able to recognize the client’s voice. You do not need to follow the link to the website to pay for the air ticket; you just need to dictate the data to your bank card, and the virtual assistant will make the purchase for you. In order not to force the passenger to constantly present various documents while boarding the plane (passports, tickets, boarding passes), S7 will introduce facial recognition.
Last year, S7 Aero transported 200 thousand Chinese. But the call center can't speak Chinese. S7 Aero wants to launch a real-time translation service into Chinese, Japanese and other languages for passengers to communicate with the call center.
Another service planned by S7 Aero is the Internet on board the aircraft, which will allow you to correspond, for example, with colleagues on a business trip during the flight, etc.
Blockchain, business jet and new engine
By improving customer service, S7 Aero hopes to increase its efficiency. The company strives for efficiency, trying to reduce costs. Thus, the price of fuel differs at each airport. In the summer, S7 Group, Gazpromneft-Aero and Alfa Bank introduced a service for instant payment for jet fuel at the time of refueling based on smart contracts in order to save on fuel. Through a system of smart contracts (Aviation fuel smart contracts - AFSC), the carrier transmits information to Gazpromneft-Aero about refueling the required flight, agrees on the volume of fuel and the price. After this, the online application is sent to the airline’s bank to reserve the required amount in the airline’s account. Confirmation from the bank takes only 40-60 seconds, after which refueling of the aircraft begins immediately. The Hyperledger blockchain platform is used for payment.
Also, in the Stupinsky district of the Moscow region, a plant will be built within two years to produce an ultra-light jet business jet. The plane will be designed for 4 people and will be able to fly over distances of 2000 km at a speed of 600 km/h. It will be made of composite materials, including carbon fiber. The company would also like to produce its own engine. To do this, S7 Group is looking for new technologies for manufacturing composite materials and ways to improve engine performance (including repairs and mathematical calculations).
Flight safety and efficiency of modern aircraft remain central issues in the aviation industry, so new technologies being developed are primarily aimed at solving these problems. The technological innovations listed below are promising areas for innovative development of the aviation industry.
Touch screens
We use touchscreens every day in smartphones and tablets, but as early as 2014, touchscreens may appear in the cockpit of modern aircraft. The Garmin G5000 integrated instrument panel with touch controllers will be launched on business jets such as the Bombardier Learjet 75, Cessna Citation Sovereign X, Latitude and Longitude.
Already this year, Rockwell Collins will introduce touchscreen flight displays on aircraft as part of the ProLine Fusion avionics suite Beechcraft King Air. Honeywell intends to launch resistive touch screens in 2018 as part of the Epic 2 avionics suite, which will be installed on Embraer E-Jet E2 regional aircraft.
Winglet War
First noticed on business jets, wingtips (winglets), designed to reduce aerodynamic drag, appeared on many aircraft of various airlines around the world in order to save fuel costs. The new generation of shark fin winglets are installed as standard on Airbus A320 aircraft, providing up to 4% reduction in fuel consumption compared to traditional wingtips.
The next step will be the introduction of Split Scimitar winglets developed by Aviation Partners on Boeing 737NG aircraft in 2014. These winglets should provide a reduction in consumption by another 2.2% compared to that achieved at given time savings of 4–5%. The "dual feather" wingtips proposed for Boeing's 737MAX airliners offer similar fuel savings.
Combined vision systems
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Birds have them. In bats and butterflies. Daedalus and Icarus wore them to escape from Minos, king of Crete. We are talking about wings, or aerodynamic surfaces that allow the aircraft to rise. As a rule, the wings have the shape of an elongated teardrop with a curved upper surface and a flat lower surface. The air flowing through the wing creates an area of higher pressure under the wing, thereby lifting the aircraft off the ground.
Interestingly, some books invoke Bernoulli's principle to explain how wings work. According to their logic, the air moves along the upper surface longer, and therefore faster, to arrive at the trailing edge at the same time as the air that moves along the lower part. The difference in speed creates a pressure difference that causes lift. Other books reject this principle, turning to Newton's proven law: the wing pushes the air down, so the air pushes the wing up.
The flight of heavier-than-air devices began with gliders - light aircraft that can fly for long periods of time without the use of an engine. Gliders were the flying squirrels of aviation, but pioneers Wilbur and Orville Wright wanted true falcons with powerful, quality flight. To provide traction, a propulsion system was needed. The Wright brothers designed and built the first airplane propellers, as well as the water-cooled four-cylinder engines to turn them.
The theory and practice of creating propellers have come a long way. The propeller acts like a rotating wing, providing lift, but in a straight direction. There are different propellers: with two blades and with eight, but they all meet the same tasks. As the blades rotate, the propellers push air back, and this air, thanks to Newtonian forces of action and reaction, propels the vehicle forward. This force is known as thrust and works against air resistance, which slows the vehicle down.
Jet engine
Aviation took a giant leap forward in 1937 when British inventor and engineer Frank Whittle tested the world's first jet engine. It worked completely differently than the modern one. Whittle's engine drew air from a forward-facing compressor. The air passed into the combustion chamber, where it was mixed with fuel and burned. A superheated stream of gases was ejected from the exhaust pipe, pushing the engine and the plane forward.
Hans Pabst van Ogein of Germany took Whittle's basic design and based it on the first jet plane in 1939. Two years later, the British government finally got the aircraft - the Gloster E.28/39, or Gloster Meteor - off the ground using Whittle's innovative jet engine. Towards the end of the Second World War, Gloster Meteor aircraft flown by Royal Air Force pilots were chasing and shooting German V-1 rockets out of the sky.
Today, turbojet engines are reserved primarily for military aircraft. Passenger airliners use turbofan engines, which still gulp air with forward-facing compressors. Only instead of burning all the incoming air, in a turbofan engine - as they are called in the literature - the air flows around the combustion chamber and mixes with a stream of superheated gases coming out of the exhaust pipe. As a result, turbofans are more efficient and produce less noise.
Jet fuel
The first piston aircraft used the same types of fuel as cars - gasoline and diesel fuel. However, the development of jet engines required diversity. Although a few fools advocated the use of peanut butter or whiskey, the aviation industry quickly became accustomed to kerosene as the best fuel for powerful jets. Kerosene is a component of crude oil obtained by distillation or separation into its basic components. In general, a lot of things are made from oil.
If you've ever owned a kerosene lamp or heater, you may have seen this straw-colored fuel. Commercial aircraft, however, require a higher grade of kerosene than grandma's kerosene stove. The fuel must burn cleanly, but have more high temperature flash than automotive fuel to reduce the risk of fire. Also, jet fuel must remain liquid in the cold air of the upper atmosphere. The cleaning process removes all water that can turn into ice particles and block fuel paths. The freezing point of the kerosene itself is also carefully controlled. Most jet fuels do not freeze at temperatures down to minus 50 Celsius.
Flight control
It's one thing to get a plane into the air. Managing it effectively to prevent it from falling back to the ground is another matter entirely. In a simple light aircraft, the pilot transmits steering commands using mechanical connections to control surfaces on the wings. These surfaces are, respectively, ailerons, lifts and rudder. The pilot uses the ailerons to move from side to side, the lifts to move up and down, and the rudder to turn left and right. Roll, for example, requires simultaneous activation of the ailerons and rudder to bring the aircraft down on one wing.
Modern military and commercial airliners are controlled by the same surfaces and use the same principles, but have done away with mechanical control. The first airplanes flew on hydraulic-mechanical systems, but they were vulnerable to damage and took up a lot of space. Today almost everything large aircraft rely on digital flight-by-wire, which allows fine control of elements using the on-board computer. This clever technology allows just two pilots to fly a commercial airliner.
Aluminum and aluminum alloys
In 1902, the Wright brothers flew their most ingenious airplane yet—a single-seat glider made of muslin “skin” stretched over a spruce frame. Over time, wood and fabric gave way to laminated wood monocoque, an aircraft structure where all or most of the stress was placed on the skin of the aircraft. Monocoque fuselages allowed for more powerful and streamlined aircraft, leading to a number of speed records in the early 1900s. Unfortunately, the wood used in such aircraft required constant maintenance and deteriorated when exposed to the elements.
By 1930, almost all aircraft designers favored all-metal construction on laminated wood. Steel was a great candidate, but too heavy. Aluminum, on the other hand, was light, strong, and easily adaptable to any component. Fuselages made of aluminum panels held together with rivets have become a symbol of aviation. But this material also had its problems - in particular, metal fatigue. As a result, manufacturers have developed new techniques to identify problem areas in aircraft metal parts. Today's repair crews use ultrasonic scanning to detect cracks and breaks, even the smallest defects that cannot be seen.
Autopilot
In the early days of aviation, flights were short, and the pilot's main concern was not crashing to the ground after a few exciting moments in the air. As technology has improved, it has become possible long flights across continents and oceans, even the whole world. Pilot fatigue became a serious problem during these epic journeys. How could a lone pilot or small crew remain awake and vigilant for hours, especially during monotonous cruises at high altitude?
This is how it appeared. Created by Lawrence Burst Sperry, son of Elmer A. Sperry, the autopilot, or automatic flight control system, linked three gyroscopes on the plane's surfaces that controlled pitch, roll, and yaw. The device made adjustments depending on the angle of deviation from the direction of flight. Sperry's revolutionary invention made stable cruising flight possible and could also take off and land independently.
The automatic flight control system of modern aircraft is not much different from the first gyroscopic autopilots. Motion sensors - gyroscopes and accelerometers - collect information about the spatial position of the aircraft and its movement, deliver it to the autopilot computers, and they issue signals to adjust the course using the wings and tail.
Pitot tubes
When pilots are in the cockpit, they have to monitor a large number of data. One of the most important things is the speed of the aircraft - relative to the air mass in which it flies. For specific flight configurations, be it landing or economy cruise, the aircraft's speed must remain within a certain range of values. If a plane flies too slowly, aerodynamics may suffer, meaning the lift force will not be enough to overcome the force of gravity. If the plane flies too fast, structural damage can occur.
On commercial airplanes, airspeed is measured by pitot tubes. The device got its name from Henri Pitot, a Frenchman who needed to measure the speed of water in rivers and canals. He created a straight tube with two holes, one at the back and one at the side. Pitot oriented his device so that the front opening faced upstream, allowing water to flow through the tube. By measuring the pressure difference across the front and side openings, he was able to calculate the speed of the moving water.
Aeronautical engineers realized they could do the same thing by installing pitot tubes on the edge of the wing or on top of the fuselage. The air flow flows through the tube and allows the aircraft's speed to be accurately measured.
Air traffic control
So far we've talked about aircraft designs, but one of the most important innovations in aviation has been air traffic control, the system that allows an airplane to take off from one airport, fly hundreds or thousands of kilometers, and land safely at its destination. In the United States, for example, there are more than 20 flight control centers that are responsible for moving aircraft throughout the country. Each center is responsible for a specific geographic area, so when a plane takes off, it is “handed over” to another center.
Radar surveillance plays a key role in air traffic control. Major ground stations located at airports and control centers emit shortwave radio waves that enter the aircraft and are reflected back. These signals allow air traffic controllers to monitor the positions of aircraft within their given volume of airspace. At the same time, most commercial aircraft carry transponders - devices that report the aircraft's type, altitude, heading and speed when interrogated by radar.
Landing a commercial airliner represents one of the most incredible feats of technology. The plane must descend from 10,000 meters to the ground and slow down from 1046 to 0 kilometers per hour. Well, yes, it needs to put all its weight - about 170 tons - on several wheels and stands, which must be strong, but completely retractable. Is it any surprise that chassis are number one on our list?
Up until the late 1980s, most civil and military aircraft used three basic landing configurations: one wheel on a strut, two wheels side-by-side on a strut, or two wheels side-by-side and another two wheels side-by-side. As aircraft became larger and heavier, landing systems became more complex to reduce stress on the wheels and strut assembly and reduce the impact force on the landing strip. The landing gear of the Airbus A380, for example, consists of four chassis - two with four wheels and two with six wheels each. Regardless of configuration, strength is more important than weight, so you'll find steel and titanium, but not aluminum, components in the chassis.
Aviation has reached the point where they already want to equip aircraft. Well, let's hope that in a couple of years we will have to write, plowing the endless expanses of the big theater.
Low-cost air travel will increase its market share. According to ICAO, in 2016, low-cost carriers accounted for approximately 28% of the total volume of global scheduled passenger traffic, while in 2003, according to estimates from consulting A.T. Kearney, it was about 10%.
Low-cost airlines are most popular in Europe: there they account for 32% of all passenger traffic. Similar figures in the Asia-Pacific region were 31%, in North America - 25%.
At the same time, the boundary between low-cost airlines and airlines with a traditional economic model is blurring. Currently, it makes sense to talk about hybrid air carriers that offer a wide tariff schedule, including low-cost fares with a minimum baggage allowance, and regular economy class tickets that provide free meals on board, as well as premium and business fares.
Yes, the majority Russian airlines, including S7, UTair, " Ural Airlines", launched tariffs that provide for the carriage of a minimum baggage allowance - 10 kg (in hand luggage or luggage compartment) instead of the previously usual 20 kg. Thus, according to the Russian Pobeda, in 2016, about 12% of the airline’s passengers used air transport for the first time in their lives. That is
the presence of a wide range of tariffs with the opportunity to take advantage of cheap air transportation allows you to attract new consumers.
This is also supported by rising prosperity in developing countries such as China and India. According to IATA, passenger traffic in these two countries jumped by 23.3 and 11.7% respectively in 2016. By 2035, global passenger traffic will reach 7.2 billion people (3.7 billion in 2016).
Low-cost air transportation is also increasing its share on long-haul routes. For example, Norwegian Air Shuttle has increased the frequency of flights from Europe to North America for 2016 by 44%, according to the British OAG. And the Asian low-cost airline AirAsia is thinking about launching flights from Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur to Moscow.
According to IATA, air travel continues to become cheaper. According to forecasts International Association air transport, the average cost of a round-trip air ticket in 2017 will be reduced to $351. Compared to the 1995 level, this figure decreased by 63%.
Digitalization of communication with passengers
The world's airlines and airports are increasing the use of digital technologies in both internal management and communication with passengers. 6% of airlines are already testing, and 17% plan to begin testing artificial intelligence within the next five years. Among airports, the share is slightly higher: 21% of airports intend to test applications using artificial intelligence in the next five years, according to a study by aviation IT solutions provider SITA.
SITA estimates that 55% of the world's travelers have used some form of self-service technology when flying. Interest in digital services is growing: about 76% of passengers would like to receive notifications about the start of baggage claim on their mobile devices, almost the same number (74%) would prefer to learn about changes in flight schedules through mobile applications.
By 2019, the share of airports in the world that will provide flight status and baggage claim information directly to passengers' mobile devices will increase to 72%.
“Self-check-in, baggage drop-off, receiving an electronic boarding pass, independent movement between different areas of the airport - this will make life easier for the airport, because it will use fewer personnel, and the movements of passengers will be easier to track,” explained Avia.ru editor-in-chief Roman Gusarov .
Using mobile applications, it will be possible not only to find out about the gate number or rescheduled departure time, but also to rebook a ticket. Currently, this solution is used by about 21% of the world's airlines. For example, the Dutch KLM (part of the AIr France-KLM holding) allows you to rebook tickets via WhatsApp, and the Italian Meridiana, in case of a schedule change, offered passengers via SMS or e-mail to choose new option flight.
By 2019, the number of airlines using mobile applications, SMS services and chats for rebooking will increase to 73%.
Quiet airport
Thanks to digitalization and the use of mobile devices for information, airports will be able to eliminate annoying announcements over the loudspeaker. The concept of a “quiet airport” has become widespread primarily in Europe.
The idea is to reduce airport noise, which many passengers find annoying, to a minimum, limiting it to security announcements and urgent messages.
Among the pioneers, the concept of “silence” was introduced by the airports of Helsinki, Munich, London City Airport, and the air hub in Mumbai.
By doing so, airports strive to create a calm environment in which passengers can relax in restaurants and cafes without annoying loudspeaker shouts, said Angela Gittens, CEO of Airports Council International.
This policy is beneficial in that it will help increase non-aviation revenues: according to Munich airport representative Corinne Born, thanks to the “quiet airport” concept, passengers increase the time they spend in the terminal, preferring to arrive in advance.
The Moscow Domodedovo has also taken the path of reducing the frequency of voice notifications: only the most necessary messages are heard here. “Announcements in the common area are of an informational nature, related to the rules for transporting items in checked baggage and hand luggage, safety rules, smoking ban: messages sound once every two hours and are generated automatically by the system,” the airport press service said.
Noise pollution has economic consequences: according to a study by the Dutch National Institute of Health and the Environment, proximity to an airport was associated with a 50 percent drop in the price of residential land. In the Netherlands, noise pollution from airports cost the country about €1 billion annually, the report’s authors calculated. More than half of this amount was accounted for by Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.
New generation aircraft will also help reduce noise pollution at the airport: for example, the Boeing 787 is 60% quieter and the Airbus A350 is 50% quieter during takeoff and landing than similar models of the previous generation.
Airport as a city
Airports will become not only major transport hubs, but will also compete with shopping and entertainment centers. Those air hubs that have large-scale transit flows will develop the “airport-city” concept. “This is a place where you can get a full range of services. And a hairdresser, and a cinema, and restaurants, and a hotel. This will allow transit passengers to find any option for spending their time,” explains Avia.ru editor-in-chief Roman Gusarov.
For example, in international airport Singapore Changi, which occupies 13 square meters. km and serves more than 50 million people annually (in 2016 - 58.7 million people), passengers can while away the time not only in shops and restaurants, but also swim in the pool located in the hotel for transit passengers in Terminal 1, go to the cinema or visit the flower garden in Terminal 2.
Airports will become multimodal transport centers, which will house both railway and bus stations. At the same time, this is partially happening now: for example, Aeroexpress passengers have access to the service of checking in and checking in luggage for their flight before boarding the train.
However, such a future awaits only large international hubs. Small airports will implement these innovations only partially, as needed, abandoning more expensive infrastructure and capital-intensive solutions, Gusarov emphasized.
Narrow-body and long-haul
The main demand of airlines in the next 20 years will be for narrow-body aircraft (90-230 passengers). According to Airbus, the global demand for such aircraft will be 24 thousand aircraft in the period from 2016 to 2035. According to Boeing, the demand for such aircraft will reach 28,140 units.
Analysts from both airlines unanimously state that narrow-body aircraft will account for more than 71% of the forecast demand.
The main buyers of such airliners will be low-cost airlines, according to Boeing.
Airbus also believes demand for long-haul aircraft will grow, as the number of passengers on such flights will double to about 2.5 million by 2035. The Asia-Pacific region will become the leader in the purchase of new aircraft in the next 20 years.
Already more than a year(he departed on March 9, 2015) "completes" trip around the world, one might think that development passenger aviation stopped or even goes in the opposite direction. Of course, Solar Impulse 2 is not the future of aviation, but modern aircraft slower than supersonic Concords flying 30 years ago. New aircraft models generally differ from old ones only in greater fuel efficiency. Airbus is not even going to develop a new aircraft for the 2020s. However, everything is not so hopeless. The most promising projects in aeronautics are described below, demonstrating that the development of aviation is still ongoing.
Electric airplanes
Airbus-E-FanAirbus is testing a small but all-electric aircraft, the Airbus-E-Fan. The latest achievement of the aircraft is the flight across the English Channel. So far, this model cannot be used for any long flights, even by one person.
But many aircraft manufacturers have no doubt that electric aviation is the future. To begin with, it is planned, as in cars, to make a hybrid engine. Airbus intends to test a “more electric aircraft” as part of the DISPURSAL project in 2022. The contribution of the electric fan motor to the total thrust should be 23%.
NASA in 2016 announced the start of development of the X-57 Maxwell aircraft equipped with 14 electric engines. It will be a small four-seater aircraft. According to engineers, the introduction of electric motors will significantly reduce operating costs. The agency does not say when the aircraft will be created.
German startup Lilium Aviation has received funding to create an electric private jet that can take off and land without an airport. The plane will need only 225 meters to take off and land. The company has already created a prototype and plans to introduce a full-size version at the end of 2018.
Supersonic aircraft
Aerion AS2
The Aerion AS2 is the first supersonic aircraft from Airbus in a very long time. This is a private jet designed for 12 passengers. $4 billion will be invested in its development, and release is planned for 2023.
In early March, NASA announced the development of an almost silent supersonic aircraft, QueSST. The main reason for banning supersonic passenger aircraft (besides fuel economy) was too much noise during the transition to supersonic speed. NASA has developed methods to get rid of the noise and expects to build a prototype around 2020.
Aviation startup Boom, backed by Virgin Galactic, is working on a supersonic plane. The startup plans to use the new aircraft to fly over the Atlantic 2.5 times faster than conventional aircraft. The $2 billion investment should allow the company to build a prototype by the end of 2017.
According to its creators, the Skylon aircraft will be able to reach any point in 4 hours at a speed 5 times faster than the speed of sound. To create it, British engineers are testing new type engine. They announced the first tests for 2019. However, this project, despite an investment of 60 million euros from the British government, is the most long-term and difficult to implement of all
New passenger aircraft
The largest aircraft manufacturers believe that aeronautics is already a miracle and, although a new aircraft appears every 5-10 years, there is no need for any breakthrough improvements. More details in the table.Airplane table
| Boeing 737 MAX
|
The Boeing 737 MAX has already received 2,500 orders and could become the market leader. Its claimed superiority over the existing leader, the Airbus A320neo, is that it consumes 4% less fuel. The first deliveries to customers will begin in 2017. | ||||||||
| MS-21
|
The new Russian MS-21 aircraft will have a completely Russian engine. Putin stated that it would be in no way inferior to its foreign counterparts. Rogozin told reporters that mass production will begin in 2020. | ||||||||
| Mitsubishi Regional Jet
|
Japan will build the first modern passenger jet airliner in its history. It is small and does not pretend to be anything. Planned start of operation in 2018. | ||||||||
| Comac C919
|
Here's the first Chinese one in a long time passenger airliner The Comac C919 is set to break the Boeing-Airbus duopoly in the market. True, so far there are 500 orders for it, mainly from Chinese carriers. Release date: 2018. | ||||||||
| E2
|
The Brazilian company Embraer is not even going to create a new airliner, but is simply modernizing the current model and calling it the second generation. New engines and better fuel economy are expected. Nevertheless, contracts have already been concluded for more than 300 deliveries of these aircraft. Deliveries to customers - since 2018. | ||||||||
| SSJ 100SV (Stretched Version)
|
The extended Sukhoi Superjet will have up to 120 seats and will be released in 2019. In other characteristics, it will be almost like the current superjet and will probably be inferior to the Boing 737 MAX, and in 2020 the Boing 777X will also be released... in general, the main thing is that it will fly and will be extended, Aeroflot their will purchase. | ||||||||
| Bombardier Cseries
|
The aircraft of the Canadian company Bombardier exceeded expectations. The manufacturer promises that the aircraft will consume 10% less fuel than the Boeing 737 MAX and MC-21. Commissioning is expected in 2016.
The champion in terms of minor improvements will be the new Boeing 777X, scheduled for release in 2020. It will have a 5% stronger engine, 12% lower fuel costs and CO2 emissions, 17 tons more payload and 18% more seats.
The Bombardier Global 8000 business jet for 8 passengers will be able to fly a record 14,600 kilometers without refueling. average speed 956 km/h. The company plans to begin sales in 2019 at a price of approximately $65 million. The aircraft will also compete with the Gulfstream G600 - new business jets also going on sale in 2018-2020. The planes will cost from $35 million to $55 million.
The new Cobalt Co50 Valkyrie private jet is cheaper than the competition ($600K) and the fastest in its class, but its main design innovation is that it looks exactly like Bruce Wayne's plane. It can carry up to 5 passengers at a time. Release date: mid-2017.
The SkiGull private amphibious aircraft will be able to land not only on water, but on any surface (grass, snow, ice). It made its first flight in November 2015 and will go on sale soon
Another seaplane, the two-seater Icon A5, is capable of taking off from and landing on water, can also recover from a spin, and is equipped with a parachute for the entire aircraft. It is recognized as so safe that you don’t even need a pilot’s license to be allowed to fly, just 20 hours of practice. It costs $250,000 and is already in production. The first 7 aircraft were assembled in 2016, but 1,850 orders have already been made for the aircraft.
The Cirrus Vision SF50 business jet may be the first mass-produced personal jet. It will be capable of carrying up to 7 passengers and should be significantly easier to fly than a conventional private jet. It will also have a parachute for the entire aircraft. 4 prototypes were built and the first aircraft was delivered to the customer in June 2016. In total, more than 600 of these machines have already been ordered at a price of $2 million.
The British single-seat e-Go is unique with its low price of just $70,000. Cheaper than many cars. The first buyer received the aircraft in June 2016.
At the other end of the price spectrum is the $3 million Epic E1000 six-seat private jet. The aircraft will be capable of flying at class-record speeds of up to 600 km/h over a distance of more than 3,000 kilometers and can climb to altitudes of up to 10 km. The prototype of the aircraft is currently undergoing testing, but more than 60 orders have already been placed for it. VTOLSince the advent of the helicopter, people have wanted to create vehicle, which will be as fast as an airplane, but can fly and land anywhere like a helicopter. This vehicle even received the working name VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) or simply a vertical takeoff aircraft. The persistent but unsuccessful attempts to create this device are captured in the infographic “wheel of misfortune”.
The VTOL must be “capable of everything a bird can do in the air” and fly at least 3 times faster than a conventional helicopter
Formally, the Italian company AgustaWestland came closest to creating a VTOL transport with the AW609 tiltrotor. It is indeed capable of landing vertically and flying further than conventional helicopters, but in speed (509 km/h) it is still significantly inferior to airplanes. So far, tiltrotors have been produced only for the needs of the American military. But the AW609 will be a civilian transport for businessmen and the oil industry. Certification is expected in 2017 and 70 orders have already been received.
DARPA has announced a competition to finally create a vertical take-off aircraft () and 4 large corporations (Boeing, Aurora Flight Sciences Corp, Sikorsky Aircraft Co and Karem Aircraft) will present their full-size prototypes for testing in February 2017.
Another attempt is an electric VTOL from the startup Joby Aviation. The company says it will cost $200,000 apiece, but doesn't give a release date.
An alternative to creating a VTOL is to simply increase the speed of the helicopter. This is what Sikorsky aircraft achieves. Their new S-97 Raider helicopter is capable of flying at speeds of up to 450 km/h. The first test flight was made in May 2015. Initially, only the military will be able to use this model. Helicopters also have not stopped developing (especially military ones, but we are not talking about them here). Promising models in development are described in the table below: Helicopter table
Bottom lineTo summarize, we can note at least 3 trends in the development of aviation. Developments of electric aircraft, the return of supersonic and the creation of a hybrid aircraft-helicopter (VTOL). The implementation of at least one of these developments will be a big breakthrough for the industry. In addition to these revolutionary changes, airplanes and helicopters are gradually improving with the release of new models (more fuel efficiency, more composite materials, cheaper operation, more automation, etc.),Tags: Add tags |
