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The Future by Airbus - .PDF file.
Siobhan Wagner
Chief Reporter
Aeroplanes made of transparent materials so passengers can have unparalleled views as they fly above the pyramids or Eiffel Tower could be a reality by 2050.
This is only part of the wacky and slightly frightening vision of what flights could be like in 40 years according to engineers at Airbus.
Their ideas were outlined in a report titled ‘The Future, by Airbus’ released by the aerospace giant this week.
Possibly the most eye-catching concept was the potential for aeroplanes constructed with controllable opaque or transparent walls, negating the need for windows.
The report states: ‘This smarter structure would help to make the aircraft lighter and more cost-efficient while giving the passenger 360 degree views of the skies. The planes of the future will offer an unparalleled, unobstructed view of the wonders of the five continents – where you will be able see the pyramids or the Eiffel Tower through the transparent floor of the aircraft.’
Airbus’ engineers also think they have a solution for increasing the flight distances of small aeroplanes. According to the report, ‘We could have flying aircraft carriers for our long distance flights, which circle the globe and on which small aircraft can dock.’
As far as improving flight experience, forget free peanuts and in-flight movies, Airbus reckons holographic technology will be the way to keep passengers content. It says: ‘Perhaps you would prefer a private cabin… that can turn into an office… or a bedroom… or a zen garden? Or anything else you like, thanks to the projection of virtual decors. Holographic technology will have advanced to such a degree that the virtual world will be indistinguishable from the real.
‘So imagine, if you will, stepping in to your pre-selected themed cabin, relaxing into a perfectly clean, ecologically grown seat that changes shape to suit you and looking up through the transparent ceiling at the Milky Way in all its glory, at an altitude of 10,000 metres.’
Perhaps the least sensational of all Airbus’ crystal-ball gazing is its predictions for new energy sources. It guesses the ‘Cryoplane’, fuelled by hydrogen, is a potential aircraft of the future.
While it is known that aircraft can fly with hydrogen, Airbus says the problem today’s engineers face is that it is too voluminous, and above all, does not exist on earth in a pure form, so a lot of energy would have to be wasted to produce it. It points out that fuel cells that use hydrogen and oxygen from the air to make electricity, would not work for an aircraft. However, because they are quieter and non-polluting, they may replace batteries and power generators in the future.
Airbus noted, ‘In the long term hydrogen may not be the solution, but nuclear fusion, or perhaps superconductivity, could give us limitless environmentally friendly energy production.’
The report also looked at solar power, noting the triumph of the Solar Impulse aircraft, but said there are limitations:‘The question that leaves engineers scratching their heads now, is how to make that leap from the light aircraft we’ve seen make a major technological breakthrough today, to fuelling the passenger airliners of tomorrow?
‘If an entire aircraft were to be covered with 100 per cent efficient solar panels, it would still not be enough to sufficiently propel a large aircraft. Even greatly increasing the output of photovoltaic cells wouldn’t make an airliner fly. In the more immediate future solar power could provide electricity on board the aircraft once it has reached altitude.’
The company also revealed its plans for future use of biofuels in aviation. It stated a belief that biomass could provide up to 30 per cent of all commercial aviation jet fuel by 2030.
Even passengers could help power aircraft. Airbus envisions harvesting energy from the body heat passengers give their seat or bed in the cabin.
All of this of course assumes we will actually be flying on aeroplanes in the future. After all, 2050 is decades from now and, who knows, we may finally get that long-promised jetpack.
Click here to read the report.
I would imagine that 360 degree views would be great for some people but the exact opposite for those who fly out of neccessity, whilst hating being off the ground, of which I am sure there will be many. This would make flight planning a nightmare for these people.
I don’t think I would like to be in a transparent aircraft. I suffer from vertigo and I was once in a lift (elevator) which was completely transparent – including the floor- I had to shut my eyes.
Presumably the holographic technology would be combined with the transparency in order to give passengers the option of choosing either to view reality or virtual reality?
‘So imagine, if you will…(snip)…looking up through the transparent ceiling at’ control cables, air ducts, communication wiring, attendant call system wiring, inflight entertainment cables. Or down through the transparent foor at the fuel systems hydraulic lines suitcases, cargo and trapped dirt.
Well! what did you think was behind that sleek glossy skin 😉
I assume that for this to work the shape or configuration of the aircraft would change. Isn’t the luggage stored under the floor at the moment ? without moving the luggage fore or aft, you couldn’t get a 360 deg view, you would get a nice view of the cases / golf bags / pushchairs etc though..
I also think being able to see the ground would freak me out, looking up as well as sideways would be fine though.
we have just built a hot air balloon with a transparent floor in the basket. the pax love it and so do the press, however they don’t normaly look down through it till your up up and away, by which time they realy don’t want to be getting out.
bring on transparent aircraft
And what about the toilet facilities – transparent – I think not.
I remember seeing on Tomorrow’s World (I believe in black and white) a report stating that by the year 2000 we would all have nuclear power under the bonnets of our cars and in our homes.
Some ad guys rather poor imagination of the future me thinks
Presumably there would be a means to darken the view to get rid of sun glare/UV and also to let long haul passengers sleep. Perhaps a pill to overcome jet lag…. Maybe its all “transparent pie in the sky”.
Well nothing too revolutionary there!
This is 40 years on, and just allowing for engineering progress seems fair enough.
However changes that might occur in our understanding of fundamental science, leading to engineering changes well beyond what we can conceive today – Perhaps a way of locally reducing /bending gravity so the aircraft just floats or how about bending time as well – no more jet lag.
Or we maybe we might be back to sailing ships!
Will add another comment on this thread in 40 years….. The engineer should still be around based on past performance 🙂
I was on a flight recently where they showed on the monitors a forward view from the cockpit throughout the flight, including takeoff and landing. It was fantastic!
It can be irritating enough when the person in the row infront or behnad has their blind up and you’re trying to sleep. An entire transparent plane above the clouds exposed to direct sunlight all the time! No thanks.
I think that someone has overlooked the fact that it would just not last even if it worked to start with. Friction (sand/particle/dust blasting) would soon turn the clear surface into a somewhat translucent grey as it does now with cockpit glass.??
Already we don’t get announcements often enough – usually not at all – when we fly over a curious landmark or near a major city, which could be very interesting.
I’m guessing that pilots are too busy. How will transparent aircraft do much more than exacerbate acrophobia? I see little to be really gained, in real practice, as things are now.
Every pilot knows that the most important part of any flight is the pre-flight inspection. If you are going to cruise at high speeds thousands of feet in the air you want to make sure that your aircraft is indeed airworthy and will not fall apart. If it does, you cannot simply pull over and call AAA and it is a long way down.
It is hard to inspect all parts of the aircraft, for instance the engine compartment, as it is covered up the cowling, it would be wise to make the aircraft cowlings out of transparent Carbon Nano Tube construction. There are endless applications for carbon nano tubes due to their strength and abilities to conduct electricity. In fact due to their lightweight, strength, transparency and ability to hold a charge the uses are truly endless indeed. One excellent use for transparent carbon nano tubes would be to make aircraft wings, windscreens and cowlings out of them for easy inspection and insurance that the engine is in good shape, no oil leaks, cracked manifolds or motor mount bolts lose or broken. It would be nice too if the valve covers were made out of carbon nano tube construction also.
If transparent valve covers were used there would be engines showing longer life and better lubrication equates to less friction, which means better fuel mileage. Since valve covers are already on every reciprocating aircraft engine, it would be easy to replace all those valve covers with carbon nano tube covers to increase longevity of the motor, insure proper lubrication and increase performance and fuel economy. This also means less pollution in our air for all the Global Warming Alarmists out there.
If windscreens were made out of carbon nano tubes, bird strikes on the canopy or windshield would be irrelevant, as it is much stronger than Plexiglas and not brittle like regular glass, but equally as transparent.
If wings were made out of carbon nano tubes you could insure the structural integrity of the wings and save thousands of dollars on Annual Inspections and improve visibility from high-wing, low-wing type midair collisions of private aircraft. Definite safety prevention issues.
In the future carbon nano tube construction will be easy and all light aircraft will have some nano tube parts. Additionally those who did not want transparency in their aircraft in certain parts could opt for opaque parts, which when hit with a certain frequency from an airframe inspection A & P mechanic or AI to sign it off; would set the machine to make it transparent for them to have a look see without charging you to take them off and re-install simply to check and see if everything is okay. Transparent carbon nano tubes for aircraft parts will be commonplace by 2028, bet me! Composite is great, but the combination will be even greater. Think on this.
Jack Northrop had that as his Dream the Video of an Flying Wing Aircraft was part of the New hire orientation. This Aircraft had huge Transperant areas, the study with people showed during some parts part of takeoff & Landing was too fast moving too ground relationship made people feel ill at those times.
Its differant than us pilots see because we are in control.
No…No…and a big No. I donot want to travel long distance constantly staring at my fellow passengers. I need privacy and a good rexation time on long distance travel. May be Ok during a short holiday birds eye view tour of some nice cities
Personally, for long haul flights I would rather be knocked out and stuck in a pod for twelve hours, to be woken up fresh when I arrive at the other end.
I seem to recall that the De Havilland Dove originally had a transparent cockpit “canopy” but this never made it into production due to heat build up. I’d be interested to know how this would be solved. In addition I too immediately thought of the issues stated before about a 360 degree view of luggage, dirt, control systems, etc and abrasion. Apart from all that it seems like a well thought out engineer’s vision of the future rather than – oh I don’t know – some marketing / “future visionist guru’s” PR puff to gain column inches in the red tops.
gr8 idea..
it can be done.. how ever i would feel the
it could be better if we can make transperent only upper half.. of the aircraft…
i guess it is better only domestic aeroplanes (short distances)
when upper half only tansperent. .. imagine…. how it could be..
I believe there were experimental transparent covering materials tried on aircraft during the 1st World War. It ‘worked’ in that it made the aircraft much less visible, ie stealthy, but it didn’t stand up well to moisture. A bit like the 1950’s film “The Man In The White Suit”…
Why develop transparent aircraft with all the difficulties that will entail when the technology already exists to see through the aircraft? The helmet under development for JSF does this now in conjunction with the aircraft’s technology, so put head sets on those that want to see it and leave those that would rather not be reminded they’re sitting in a tube at 35,000 feet to watch the in-flight movies.
I can think of some passengers I’d rather were transparent.
But see-though clothing could have some benefits: I’m thinking terrorists rather than totties, you understand…
Easy: Put good quality cameras on the bottom and sides of the plane, route it through a video processing unit, multicast it to user’s seat-back video display on channel 3. User controls on the display can set brightness, contrast, zoom factor, etc. Coordinate with plane’s GPS to overlay coastlines, roads, political boundaries, etc. at user’s option.
Want to look down, video display snaps out from the seat back on a cable. Internal accelerometer “points” the image in the direction you are looking.
Easy. All do-able with the technology in a smart-phone. Today.
That’s engineering.
Brillant Idea… I have just returned from a trip and was suggesting this to my other half… came home to google it and the plan is already off the ground… hope it comes sooner!
For those people who would not like to fly with 360 transparent views, we are talking about technology in 2050. you would individually be able to turn your 360 into a 3/4d panoramic view or what ever you wanted, like running through a forest.
It isn’t the whole aircraft that is transparent! You won’t be forced to look at a 10000m drop while you violently throw up! A section of the plane will have transparent walls and ceiling as a sort of ‘gallery’ for those who want it.