From research conducted at the German Aerospace Center (DLR)

A flying stingray for 750 passengers

Low noise, manoeuvrability and one-third the fuel consumption of conventional aircraft – these goals will be achieved by the future “flying wing” passenger jets that are currently being developed at the DLR.

Picture flying wing — This design for a flying wing jet – produced by the EU’s NACRE project – is based on models from nature, such as the flying seeds of a Southeast Asian creeper. Photo/Graphic: DLR/NACRE.

Photo seed — Photo/Graphic: Wiki Commons, Scott Zona (CC by-nc-nd).

Scientists envision an aircraft that is 65 metres long, almost 100 metres wide, will seat 750 and have the shape of a stingray. The team led by Dirk Leißling at the DLR Institute of Flight Systems in Braunschweig has tested the flight characteristics of a flying wing configuration designed on a computer. For this purpose they fed all the data relating to the flying wing into the control system of their ATTAS research aircraft. As Leißling puts it, “ATTAS is a true chameleon and performs in real flight exactly like this not-yetexistent aircraft.”

The test flight drew on all the pilot’s skills, since the flight behaviour of the programmed ATTAS deviated significantly from that of conventional aircraft – a success for this experiment, which elegantly combines reality and simulation and represents a significant step forward in flying wing research.

Jan Oliver Löfken

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