DailyDirt: Cool New Planes

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Tue, Apr 3rd 2012 5:00pm — Michael Ho

Futuristic-looking jet planes used to inspire all kinds of technology geeks, back when commercial flying was a relatively new venture. Over the years, though, the airline industry has matured quite a bit, and commercial plane designs don't really look that unique anymore. But that doesn't mean engineers aren't coming up with novel plane designs. Here are a few cool new planes that could take to the skies in the not too distant future.

Supersonic planes have a problem of creating a "sonic boom" when they travel faster than the speed of sound, causing all kinds of headaches for commercial and military operations. A new biplane design with twin wings would have a much reduced sonic boom, as each wing could cancel out the effects of the other (at least in theory & simulations). [url]
NASA is interested in liquified natural gas (LNG) propulsion for creating super fuel efficient airplanes. Planes fueled by LNG won't be ready for at least three generations of airplane technologies (aka N+3 airliners), so don't expect to see any before 2030. [url]
The first production aircraft to completely satisfy FAA spin resistance standards will likely improve the safety of non-commercial general aviation. Icon Aircraft's A5 amphibious light sport aircraft is a two-seater plane design that greatly reduces the plane's potential to stall out or go into an uncontrollable spin. [url]
To discover more cool sites about aviation, check out what's currently flying around StumbleUpon. [url]

By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: aviation, flight, fuel sources, planes

6 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

Anonymous Coward, 3 Apr 2012 @ 6:53pm

biofuels for military jets..
Wasn't the USAF trying out biodiesel in some of their planes?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Anonymous Coward, 3 Apr 2012 @ 8:39pm

Icon Aircraft's A5 amphibious
This aircraft look an awful lot like the Lake Renegade Turbo I fly in my flight simulator. I hope there are no IP rights in question, cause that is one fantastic aircraft, and the no spin wing design would be a real blessing to the light aircraft industry.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Hephaestus (profile), 4 Apr 2012 @ 6:52am

the super sonic biplane design has been around for a while.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
davebarnes (profile), 4 Apr 2012 @ 7:26am

I love sonic booms
They are the "sound of freedom" according the huge National Guard billboard that was near my house in the early 1960s.
Convair F-102 Delta Daggers would fly fairly low over my house.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
I-Blz, 4 Apr 2012 @ 8:47am

Re: I love sonic booms
Never heard one, it pains me to say. :/ bloody regulations.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
sprearson81 (profile), 10 Jun 2012 @ 9:10am

Always with the regulations . . .
[ link to this | view in thread ]