As part of this sustainable flight demonstrator project, Boeing and its industrial team will partner with NASA to develop and flight test a full-size “truss transonic wing” demonstrator.
The “transonic truss wing” concept involves an aircraft with extra-long, thin wings stabilized by diagonal struts. This design results in an aircraft that is much more fuel efficient than a traditional airliner because its shape creates less drag, allowing it to consume less fuel.
“NASA is working towards an ambitious goal: to develop breakthrough technologies to reduce aviation energy consumption and emissions over the next few decades, in order to meet the zero carbon emissions goal of here 2050“said Bob Pearce, NASA Associate Administrator for Aeronautical Research Mission Leadership.
NASA’s goal is that the technology used on the demonstration aircraft, combined with other advances in propulsion systems, materials and systems architecture, will reduce fuel burn and emissions by up to 30% compared to today’s most efficient single-aisle aircraft, depending on the mission.
