NASA and Boeing are partnering up to produce a new experimental aircraft that is expected to revolutionize the commercial airline industry. The Sustainable Flight Demonstrator, as it is called, will feature long, skinny wings that extend from the top of the plane's fuselage, unlike traditional commercial aircraft with wings protruding from the lower part of the plane's body. The wings will be more slender and lengthier than typical wings on commercial aircraft, and will be supported by trusses. The goal is to create a plane that is much more fuel efficient and environmentally friendly, with NASA aiming for a 30 percent increase in efficiency.
Creating the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator is a significant commitment by NASA to reduce carbon emissions in the air transportation system, which is one of the most difficult industries to decarbonize. Pamela Melroy, NASA's deputy administrator, said at a press conference in Washington, DC, that the initiative is a "major new NASA commitment to reducing carbon emissions in the air transportation system." The aircraft will have two engines, one under each wing, and a tail in the rear shaped like a T. It will be a single-aisle aircraft like a Boeing 737 or an Airbus A320, and not a wide-body with two aisles, like a 787 or an A350.
The design of the plane is technically referred to as a Tran-sonic Truss-Braced Wing, or TTBW. Long, slender wings produce less drag because they can reduce vortices at the wing tips, as explained by a senior aerospace engineer at NASA, Kevin James. "Out at the tip of the wing, where there's no more wing beyond what the air can see, the air is very clever, and it will simply just go around the tip," he said. "But by making the wings longer, there is 'more lift that we can generate, more efficiently.'"
The trusses or braces are necessary to support the wings and prevent the wings from fluttering, which could be hazardous. In addition, trusses can pull off another trick: "You can actually get lift on this brace, as well as [from] the wing, [like] the old concept of the old biplanes," said Bill Nelson, NASA's administrator.
There are some challenges to this configuration. The long, narrow wings could flutter like a bridge or a sign blowing in strong winds, which is why a plane with these wings needs to have trusses. Long wings could also make it challenging for planes with this design to fit into the gate at the airport.
The Sustainable Flight Demonstrator is expected to be a game-changer for the airline industry, and could help reduce carbon dioxide emissions, which globally represented more than 2 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in 2021 from "energy-related" sources, according to the International Energy Agency.
Boeing and NASA plan to have the aircraft flying by 2028, and there is hope that planes like this could be in service in the 2030s. "We're going to reduce as much as 30 percent the fuel consumption--with better engines, and look at this wing," said Bill Nelson at the event. "The wing is 'so long and thin, it has to have a brace.'"
Conclusion
NASA and Boeing's partnership to create the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator represents a significant commitment to reducing carbon emissions in the air transportation system. The new plane's long, skinny wings, supported by trusses, are expected to make the aircraft much more fuel efficient and better for the environment. Long, slender wings produce less drag and can generate more lift more efficiently, which will help achieve the goal of a 30 percent increase in efficiency.
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