Supersonic Flying Wing

[Moonglow]

Now this is cool!

An aircraft that resembles a four-point ninja star could go into supersonic mode by simply turning 90 degrees in midair. The unusual "flying wing" concept has won $100,000 in NASA funding to trying becoming a reality for future passenger jet travel.

The supersonic, bidirectional flying wing idea comes from a team headed by Ge-Chen Zha, an aerospace engineer at Florida State University. He said the fuel-efficient aircraft could reach supersonic speeds without the thunderclap sound produced by a sonic boom — a major factor that previously limited where the supersonic Concorde passenger jet could fly over populated land masses.

"I am hoping to develop an environmentally friendly and economically viable airplane for supersonic civil transport in the next 20 to 30 years," Zha said. "Imagine flying from New York to Tokyo in four hours instead of 15 hours."

Supersonic Flying Wing Nabs $100,000 from NASA - Yahoo! News

 

[daveman]

That's amazing.

 

[Truthmatters]

very cool

 

[ScienceRocks]

Good stuff. We need more innovation like this.

 

[JimBowie1958]

Good stuff. We need more innovation like this.

Hope that they can actually build it. Concept is one thing, but implementation is quite another.

It does look like a really cool idea.

 

[whitehall]

Who is going to benefit? My guess is that the grant will probably close to the price of a ticket if the thing is ever built..

 

[JimBowie1958]

Who is going to benefit? My guess is that the grant will probably close to the price of a ticket if the thing is ever built..

Initially, but as the capital investment increases the costs for customers goes way down.

That is the pattern to all new technology, initially only the government and the most wealthy can afford it but as the industry gets more automated, experienced and has more competence in the labor force, the costs go down and competition drives the prices downward.

Look at the history of computers. In the 50s only the government and corporations could afford them, but by the 1990's the technology had matured to where individuals could buy them and run them in their own homes.

The same will happen here and by 2040 you will be able to fly your self-driving auto to the prefered moon vacation resort.

There is no reason to be pessimistic here.