Aviation in 50 years?

silverharp

hope whimsical threads are allowed here , but compared to the last 50 years, will the changes be incremental? more efficient ATC and the like. Will speed likely increase or will it still be oil based subsonic travel. And other small or larger differences we might see?

Mc Love

Perhaps fusion powered jets?....just putting it out there

chicken fingers

Not a lot of HUGE developments. Certainly not like 1960-2010

Id expect to see huge moves into composite materials aircraft, more helos than ever before, fuel efficiency should always be getting better and therefore flying should be getting cheaper for all.
Right now I fly 30-50 times a year in big dirty helos from the 1970s that burn 2000$ of combustible an hour. Id expect big changes in the next 50 years in many areas of aviation.
Also some new light jets should become relatively common, as the rich-poor gap widens.

chicken fingers

del

Tenger

We can already the aim of reducing oil based reliance. Several airlines ahve already trialled alternate bio-fuels. It remains to be seen how big of a portion they can cliam in the future.

I believe ATC will become more integrated. Compare Europe to the US. 1 large vs many smaller districts. Pilots flying cross US often get clearance direct to LAX when they are just entering US airpsace along the Canadian border. We should see a similar integration in Europe. Improvements to navigation should also allow better use of the airspace, less reliance on fixed air corridors, and perhaps a redcution in restricted (ie military) airspace in Europe.

Steyr

silverharp wrote: »

hope whimsical threads are allowed here , but compared to the last 50 years, will the changes be incremental? more efficient ATC and the like. Will speed likely increase or will it still be oil based subsonic travel. And other small or larger differences we might see?

Thats already here, the USAF are already introducing Bio Fuel to their C-17A Fleet as the fleet is the biggest Consumer of fuel annually.

I also see bigger Aircraft slightly larger than the A380 and flights to and from Ireland-Australia instead of Ireland-Uk-Stopover ( Singapore?? )-Australia.

Also see the evolution of the Scramjet in to a Military/Space Role and the evolution of more faster/quieter/stealthier UAV's.

mle1324

What I'd like to see are larger helicopters that are capable of carrying 120 + people.

Also like to see better equipment for the likes of snow ect ect.

chicken fingers

mle1324 wrote: »

What I'd like to see are larger helicopters that are capable of carrying 120 + people.

Its fairly dirty, but the M-26 can carry that number if you squash in!
I flew in one a couple of years ago, it needs a crew of 5 afair.
There was only 4 or 5 others in it that time. Roomy!

Plowman

This post has been deleted.

Joe 90

Tenger wrote: »

We can already the aim of reducing oil based reliance. Several airlines ahve already trialled alternate bio-fuels. It remains to be seen how big of a portion they can cliam in the future.

I believe ATC will become more integrated. Compare Europe to the US. 1 large vs many smaller districts. Pilots flying cross US often get clearance direct to LAX when they are just entering US airpsace along the Canadian border. We should see a similar integration in Europe. Improvements to navigation should also allow better use of the airspace, less reliance on fixed air corridors, and perhaps a redcution in restricted (ie military) airspace in Europe.

You expect the European regulators to be overcome by common sense?:p

Run_to_da_hills

If security hype continues to escilate at the rate it has been over the last ten years shorter journies by air will become a hassle rather than a convenience.

People will resort to ferries and high speed rail for shorter hops, this is already happening across Europe.

Steyr

Plowman wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

I respectfully beg to differ when you consider the amount of Irish over there. Maybe its not large enough yet but it will given time.

Steyr

Mc Love wrote: »

Perhaps fusion powered jets?....just putting it out there

Cop on man, Gillette dont do Jets..:p :cool:

Stimpyone

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IS83TySok5I

Big Helo's are so 1974...

mle1324

See imo if airliners had helicopters its would of made things a bit better when we had the snow a couple of weeks ago, even use them to ferry people from Shannon to Dublin would of being a help.

TW Mr Tayto

I'd like to see a Robinson heli with a fully articulated head.
I understand the cost/maintenance would be larger... but I think it would be worth it.
For anyone wondering why: http://bestaviationarticles.com/?p=16

Joe 90

TW Mr Tayto wrote: »

I'd like to see a Robinson heli with a fully articulated head.
I understand the cost/maintenance would be larger... but I think it would be worth it.
For anyone wondering why: http://bestaviationarticles.com/?p=16

How about Robbos whre the blades don't delaminate and with proper paint? Be a great first step.

Jazzy

hopefully we get rid of these ludicrous current designs

Tabnabs

Far too little Sci-Fi in this thread


A team of engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have won a NASA contract to design the “airplane of the future”. They’ve been given $2 million, and 18 months to come up with a cleaner, quieter more efficient form of air travel that could become a reality in the year 2030. MIT faculty members, as well as several students, will be working on the project along with engineers from Aerodyne Research, Aurora Flight Sciences, Boeing Phantom Works, and Pratt & Whitney.


SUGAR Volt – which includes an electric battery gas turbine hybrid propulsion system – can reduce fuel burn by more than 70 percent and total energy use by 55 percent. This fuel burn reduction and the “greening” of the electrical power grid can greatly reduce emissions of life cycle carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide. Hybrid electric propulsion also has the potential to shorten takeoff distance and reduce noise.


Turning the dream of cleaner, quieter, cheaper aircraft into a reality is the goal of the NACRE (‘New Aircraft Concepts Research’) project. The project’s early results suggest that the aircraft of the future could look very different to the planes flying overhead today.


Son of Concorde

The engineers believe that this is the future of modern air travel. The A2 would fly with a top speed of 3,400mph and be able to take 300 passengers between London and Sydney in under five hours. Its engines are powered by liquid hydrogen and produce few carbon emissions, making this plane much greener than the ones we have today.

Of course, the plane is loud as ever. The A2 would have to fly just under Mach 1 until it reached unpopulated areas at which point it would crank the engines to their full Mach 5 capabilities.



And my personal favourite:

:cool:

Davidth88

Well , is the ' airship ' dead

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12110386

Basically a hybrid aerofoil shaped airship type thingie ...... interesting