A flying stingray for 750 passengers
From research conducted at the German Aerospace Center (DLR)
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.
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
Media about the subject
Links
DLR
- Institute of Flight Systems
- In-Flight-Simulator VFW 614 ATTAS
- Test flights in a simulated passenger aircraft of the future
- Projekt Very Efficient Large Aircraft (VELA)
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