Take today’s airframe manufacturers for example. All manner of civil aircraft designs have been envisaged throughout the rich tapestry of aviation’s history. Some have been marvels of modern engineering, such as the paradigm-breaking Concorde, whereas infamous flaws designed into others have led certain aircraft to acquire derogatory monikers that best remain nameless.
Aircraft builders have generally taken a fairly well-travelled flight path over time by sticking to the fundamental design principles of aerodynamics and lightweight construction. In its most basic form, today’s civil aircraft comprises a tubular shaped fuselage, a pair of wings and a tail assembly, all bolted together with aero engines that suck, squeeze, bang and blow. Recently, some more futuristic civil aircraft have been mooted, with attractive blended wing bodies and open rotor designs pushing the existing parameters way beyond the horizon.
However, strict safety and environmental regulations, along with the airline operating costs per passenger per mile will forever dominate the demands that today’s designers of tomorrow’s civil aircraft will need to satisfy before they even leave the drawing board, let alone the runway.
Why all the blue-sky thinking? The titanic was designed to be unsinkable, so perhaps we’re all expecting the next generation of aircraft designs to be unthinkable. Like it or not, turning dreams into schemes will always be shackled by the practicalities of the commercial airline operator’s directive. Thinking of a ‘first’ in aircraft design? Then first think about generating profit.
Mike Richardson, editor