I recently did an article on hybrid planes and boats, but it got
me thinking, what planes of the future would look like. Let's begin.
What would Planes look like: For one, they may be seamless.
Traditional flaps will vanish with the mass production of flexible
materials on the edges of the wings which allows for the same maneuvering and
turning, but can also be used to increase efficiency of the flight itself.
Solar panels and wind turbines can and will be integrated onto the wings of
prop driven aircraft to increase fuel efficiency as well. Other design
elements include flying wing designs which will have clear flooring and or
skylights. There is boxed/diamond wing designs which connect the front
wings to the tail in a diamond like shape when seen from below, which increases
lifts capacity and reduces drag.
Other unique ideas may be hybrids between
blimps and planes essentially having a three story tall cruise ship in the sky.
However, I doubt it will have a pool, but some may have small hot tubs.
Other shapes are all possible and in fact, planes could even lose their
landing gear. There is another idea which has aircraft land on a cradle
of sorts to land instead. Though that idea is likely to be scrapped with
tilt rotor and vertical takeoff and landing technology coming out of its
infancy. This also may mean that personal aircraft may get a boost as
many new planes will become automated and thus fly themselves.
Conclusion: These are just some of the design
ideas being tossed around. There are other ideas, such as bringing back
boat planes, or even scramjet planes that can get people from New York to Tokyo
in less than 2 hours. As to what takes hold and what new niches are
formed in the aircraft industry, we will just have to wait and see.
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