I always liked this concept so it is good to see Airbus talking about it.

 

Simple concept to save fuel and it already works in nature, nothing new really as Military Aircraft have been flying formations since WW1:

 

http://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/international/7632157/Airbus-line-up-a-new-way-to-travel

Ryanair fleet approaching, take cover! :lol:

It's a interesting concept, but the logistics could be tricky. You don't want to have to loiter for a long time to build the formation, since that would kill your fuel savings. It would also require a large amount of cooperation between different airlines. The huge swarms in the CGI are obviously an exaggeration, but it might work over say the Atlantic. Still you would have to have planes from multiple departure points meeting up at the right time, which sounds like something that could easily be disrupted.

 

The military have indeed been flying in formation for a long time, but don't forget those planes all take-off from the same point at the same time, and the purpose of the formation is not fuel saving.

What has Airbus been smoking recently? First it was the giant UAV then the launch gear and now this?

 

:huh:

I don't think this would work for aircraft with either short routes such as UK to Spain but for longer international routes and aircraft arriving at the same destination it could work. For example say if a group of flights had a common destination like New York. The first aircraft takes off in Sydney, that is then joined by an aircraft from Singapore departing just as the Sydney flight passes as to intercept and enter formation. And then so on for every flight departing along the way ie Dubai, Paris, London, Dublin, Keflavik. Maybe then it would be a workable theory if the airport could keep up with so many flights arriving at once.

 

 

What has Airbus been smoking recently? First it was the giant UAV then the launch gear and now this?

 

:huh:

 

Nothing wrong with throwing a couple of theories out there, I mean one of them is bound to work eventually :LMAO:

What has Airbus been smoking recently? First it was the giant UAV then the launch gear and now this?

 

:huh:

 

They're brainstorming about what aviation could look like 40 to 50 years from now. It's an exercise in determining what type of technology they need to consider developing so that it will be available for the aircraft they want to design 30-40 years from now, with some marketing sauce poured on top.

I hope they've taken wake turbulence into consideration... :huh:

They're brainstorming about what aviation could look like 40 to 50 years from now. It's an exercise in determining what type of technology they need to consider developing so that it will be available for the aircraft they want to design 30-40 years from now, with some marketing sauce poured on top.

 

In all honesty it won't be much different than it is today spare for slightly more efficient airframes and fuels.

 

Just look at the Queen. She's about 40 years old and it's still flying. It's a huge hint at how things will continue to be.