THE ERA OF PLANES OF A NEW GENERATION HAS COME. UNUSUAL SEAT CHAIRS, NOISE-INSULATING MATERIALS, FANTASTIC INTERIOR - ALL THIS IS WAITING FOR US ALREADY FOR THE COMING SEVERAL YEARS.
UPDATING AT THE SCREW
Trends in changing the form (and content) of new products of the civilian fleet are already clearly visible today. Significantly "getting fatter" are gas turbine engines suspended under the wings. This is due to an increase in the diameter of their fans, which, in turn, is done to save fuel in flight. So, in the wide-body Airbus 350-ХWB, the diameter of the fan of a Rolls-Royce Trent turbine is already three meters. Where economy is, there is ecology, rightly believes Richard Branson, who ordered this year at the Farnborough Air Show at once a dozen of the longest modifications of this airliner.
The closest competitor of the Airbus 350 XWB - the Dreamliner of the Boeing 787-9 cannot boast of such impressive turbine barrels and special spoilers that cover the air gaps when the ailerons are lowered. But in spite of this, American engineers, together with NASA, came up with engine noise reduction chevrons on the trailing edges of the engine nacelles, dynamic wingtips and a fundamentally different interior ventilation system. It turns out that before that we all breathed air inside the airliners, which is pumped into by the engines and then cooled by the air conditioners. And for the Dreamliner, the ventilation system works differently, pumping outboard air directly to the compressor. At the same time, natural humidity is preserved, which is usually so lacking at the height of our eyes and other body systems.
Titanium and duralumin, from which the fuselages of passenger aircraft are traditionally made, are increasingly giving way to composite materials. “Airbuses” are already half made of carbon fiber, “Boeings” - a little less than. Even the turbine blades of Rolls-Royce aircraft engines now make composite, let alone the wing! Its shape, by the way, today also tends to change, the most radical of which are characteristic of the narrow-bodied regional class Embraer E190-E2. While competitors continue to use straight wing planes with Whitcomb's one or two-sided tips (sometimes saber-like), Brazilian aircraft designers offered a bird-like wavy profile, not only beautiful, but also saving 14.5% of fuel.
NEW COMFORTABLE COMFORT
However, the passenger during the flight is not as important technical nuances as his personal comfort. Understanding this well, airlines, the best of which Emirates was recognized as the best this summer in Farnborough, do not save on media space. 250-megabyte satellite Internet speed in flight is becoming the norm, as is self check-in for a flight using the Facebook messenger. If a few years ago mobile phones in flight humbly asked to turn off, now airlines have suddenly felt the whole range of advantages of client gadgets.
Why install a bulky and energy-intensive video broadcast system on board an airplane if every child now flies with a tablet? It is enough to configure a local on-board network - say, an autonomous router manufactured by the Dutch company Air Fi - with a movie library tailored to suit every taste. You can also order food or make purchases in duty free using this “lokalka” - to the delight of low-cost carriers, who were able to take on board a smaller number of service personnel. However, not all airlines see the future of their passengers in such an ascetic aspect.
In 2016, Panasonic commissioned B / E Aerospace to develop the WaterFront personal passenger space. In it, flight participants can watch a 24-inch 4K TV, using their synchronized smartphone as a multi-controller, adjust individual lighting, communicate with the crew, program the menu and alarm clock, and receive flight and baggage information. At the same time, all personal gadgets are automatically recharged, and the chair keeps a memory of the preferences of the passenger until the next meeting with him.
Australians tend to turn the problem on its head for the most successful solution, and Qantas decided to offer virtual technology as an alternative to the on-board Internet. Passengers of the first class of the Sydney – Los Angeles flight are given blankets with embroidered kangaroos, Samsung Gear VR glasses, seatbacks recline to the most comfortable position and the whole flight goes in a state of magically altered reality.
Due to the development of technology, changes today affect every detail of the interior in civil aviation. So, in the Dreamliner, the largest portholes for today are already devoid of the usual plastic curtains - only remotely adjustable photochromic dimming. At one time, it was clinically proven that night-time LED lighting prevents the appearance of jetlag syndrome in passengers, and in this case it is now being introduced everywhere. The luggage racks of regional Bombardier aircraft became extendable, like chests of drawers - and fits more and more convenient to get. In order to improve ergonomics, seats in the economy class will soon have seats automatically rising in an unoccupied position, like in a movie theater. And finally, in economy and business classes there will be full-fledged berths, so demanded in long-distance flights.
Folding up to the horizontal position of the seat in the passenger compartment of the first class appeared for a long time. But, no matter how comfortable they are and no matter how zoned from prying eyes by curtains and screens, not everyone can fall asleep when they eat, talk or watch a movie nearby. There is, of course, a pleasant exception since 2015 - the Etihad Airways three-room residence aboard the A-380 with a bathroom, a living room, a bedroom and a personal butler who has undergone an internship at the Savoy Hotel. But not everyone can afford 18 thousand dollars for a ticket from Dubai to London.
Sleep, as Cervantes said, equalizes everyone, so London-based factory Design Factory has offered a curious alternative. Part of the aircraft’s interior space is reserved for the sleeping compartment with Air Lair soundproofed “cocoons” located on two floors, where each passenger can happily stretch out and enjoy the lulling silence.
TIME DRIVING
In the foreseeable future, civilian passengers will increasingly have to land on rivers, seas and oceans. It is, of course, not about an emergency landing on water, but about the expansion of existing and the construction of new airports. For example, Britannia Airport, designed at the mouth of the Thames on an artificial island - the beloved brainchild of former London mayor Boris Johnson - will have six runways overlooking the waters like breakwater piers.
“We considered two options for the location of the airport: floating and bulk,” says Jan Malkekhi, director of construction contractor Gensler. “As a result, we settled on the second. The new hub at the Thames mouth is able to assume the functions of an overloaded Heathrow, but in connection with Brexit, the decision on it construction is not yet accepted. "
“We’ll wait with this at least until October,” said British Transport Secretary Patrick McLaughlin on June 30.
The idea of using the sea surface for aviation needs has already been successfully tested at Osaka and Hong Kong airports. At present, the Achmad Yani Airport on Java Island in Indonesia is under construction by the sea terminal and runway, and a similar project for San Diego was frozen in 2003 due to the unbearable cost of $ 20 billion. The most curious in this context is the Aerotropolis project of former Boeing engineer Terry Drinkard, who proposes to build a floating airport using offshore oil platform technology. Such an aerodrome, according to its designer, will be able to receive medium-sized civilian aircraft, independently provide itself with energy due to the contrast of water temperature at different depths, and will revive the 1930 idea of building intermediate “jump airfields” in the Atlantic Ocean on a direct line between Europe and the USA . At the same time, Aerotropolis can also serve as a place for mooring yachts and a base for scientific research. The project has its opponents and supporters.
“It is planned to test Aerotropolis on a slightly reduced scale in the Caribbean,” said Commander Bad Slabbaert, one of Drinkard’s partners. “Negotiations are ongoing among investors - the governments of neighboring countries and the airlines operating in this region.”
No matter how beautiful and fast the plane may be, no matter how comfortable the passenger inside it is, all this sometimes cannot protect from take-off and landing bursts, a kind of equivalent to traffic jams. Therefore, improving the capacity of airports through the construction of new runways, improving the logistics of flights is as important for the future of aviation as the joint efforts of aircraft designers and designers - to make this future as bright and cloudless as possible.
Mirror of the unbelievable
Technicon Design from the UK introduced a new model for Ixion private jets, which offer standard portholes replaced with flexible screens where a panoramic image of the surrounding space will be displayed.
Author Dmitry Konstantinov
