U.K. Consortium Working On New Technologies to Dramatically Reduce Aircraft Fuel Burn

A consortium of 17 U.K. organizations is working on a slate of new aircraft technologies aimed at cutting present day fuel consumption in half by 2020, and reducing emissions and noise by a similar amount.

The group, which includes entities from industry, research bodies and academia,  is looking at new technologies related to development of wings, wing systems, landing gear and fuel systems, among others, to accomplish its goal.  Their first objective is to determine the most promising combination of technologies and develop a large-scale physical demonstrator to test concepts and evaluate their potential in a second phase of the program.

According to its participating organizations, the effort is not just a do-good project, but is meant to improve the efficiency and enhance the bottom line of every company involved.

Dubbed the "Integrated Wing" program, the £34 million project is jointly funded by industry, the U.K.'s Department of Trade and Industry, and regional development agencies including Invest Northern Ireland.

Among the consortium members are Airbus and Bombardier.  Michael Ryan, the general manager of Bombardier in Belfast, said the program not only allows the participants to demonstrate their innovation, but "could lead to a completely new way of designing aircraft, and indeed potentially change the very look of aircraft in the future."  12-15-2006.

Click here to become a registered Flt Tech Online subscriber and receive headlines delivered to your e-mail each week

Click here to go back to the headlines