JetZero: Is this new plane design the future of aviation?

The basic design of commercial airliners hasn’t changed much over the past 60 years. Modern aircraft like the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350 have the same general shape as the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8, which were built in the late 1950s and solidified the “tube and wing” form factor that is still in use today. .

This is because commercial aviation prioritizes safety, favoring tried-and-true solutions, and because further developments – in materials and engines, for example – mean that traditional design is still relevant.

However, as the industry desperately searches for ways to reduce carbon emissions, it faces a slightly tougher challenge than other sectors, precisely because its core technologies have proven so difficult to abandon. It might be time to try something new.

One proposal is the “combined body and wing”. This all-new aircraft shape resembles the “flying wing” design used by military aircraft such as the iconic B-2 bomber, but the blended wing has more bulk in the mid-section. Both Boeing and Airbus are teasing the idea, as is a third player, JetZero based in California, which has set an ambitious goal of putting a combined wing aircraft into service by 2030.

“We strongly believe in a path to zero emissions in large jets, and the combined wing fuselage can deliver 50% less fuel burn and emissions,” says Tom O’Leary, co-founder and CEO of JetZero. “This is an impressive leap compared to what the industry is used to.”

Under pressure

The combination wing concept is far from new, and the first attempts to build airplanes of this design date back to the late 1920s in Germany. American aircraft designer and industrialist Jack Northrop created a jet-powered flying wing design in 1947, which inspired the B-2 in the 1990s.

As a kind of hybrid between a flying wing and a traditional “tube and wing”, the mixed wing allows the entire aircraft to generate lift while minimizing drag.

NASA says this shape “helps increase fuel economy and creates larger payload (cargo or passenger) areas in the midsection of the aircraft’s body.” The agency tested it using one of its experimental planes, the X-48.

In 2020, Airbus built a small combined wing demonstrator, around six feet long, signaling an interest in pursuing a full-size aircraft in the future. But if the form is so effective, why haven’t we started building plans around it yet?

According to O’Leary, there is a major technical challenge that holds manufacturers back. “It’s the pressurization of a non-cylindrical fuselage,” he says, pointing to the fact that a tube-shaped plane is better able to handle the constant expansion and contraction cycles that accompany each flight.

“If you think of a ‘tube and wing’ it separates the loads – you have the pressurization load on the tube and the bending loads on the wings. But a combo wing essentially mixes them up. Only now can we do this with composite materials that are both light and strong.”

Such a radically new shape would make the plane’s interior look totally different from today’s aircraft. “It’s just a much, much wider fuselage,” says O’Leary.

“Your typical single-aisle plane has three by three seats, but this is a shorter, wider tube type. You get the same amount of people, but you can have 15 or 20 cabin rows, depending on how each airline configures it.”

“It just gives them a whole new palette to define. I think it will be amazing to see what their interpretation of this much wider space is going to be.”

revolutionary potential

O’Leary says the closest equivalent in terms of size would be the Boeing 767 – a wide-body twin-engine airliner launched in the 1980s that typically carried around 210 passengers.

It is still produced as a cargo plane, but has been replaced by the Boeing 787 as a passenger plane. It also has a modern military variant, the KC-46, which the US Air Force uses for aerial refueling.

Likewise, JetZero intends to simultaneously develop three variants: a passenger plane, a cargo plane and a fuel tank. The combination wing form lends itself so well to the latter that the US Air Force has just awarded JetZero $235 million to develop a full-scale demonstrator and validate the performance of the combination wing concept.

The first flight is scheduled for 2027, which means that the military version of the plane is slated to lead the way and perhaps support the development of commercial models.

However, building an entirely new plane from scratch is an enormous task, and JetZero’s goals seem ambitious given that the complete certification process, even for a variant of an existing aircraft, can take years.

One advantage the JetZero has in this area is that the plane will initially borrow engines from today’s narrow-body aircraft such as the Boeing 737 – although the plan is to eventually switch to completely emission-free hydrogen-powered propulsion, which would require new engines that have not yet been developed.

JetZero still doesn’t have any orders for its plane, but O’Leary says airlines are interested. “We are already talking to all the major airlines in the world because they are excited to hear about the efficiency gains.”

It remains to be seen whether a 50% reduction in fuel use is actually possible. Both NASA and Airbus were more modest, citing 20% ​​for their designs, while the US Air Force says a combined wing aircraft could “improve aerodynamic efficiency by at least 30% over current tankers and aircraft.” of Air Force Mobility”.

“It’s important to note that while a mixed wing body can reduce drag and increase fuel efficiency, the actual benefits depend on the specific design, configuration and operating conditions,” says Bailey Miles, aviation analyst at consulting firm AviationValues.

“Extensive aerodynamic testing and optimization are essential to fully realizing the drag reduction potential of this innovative aircraft design. It would be difficult to determine a specific percentage of fuel reduction without the necessary tests,” he adds.

According to Miles, the combined wing design is a “revolutionary” idea that has potential, but it comes with a number of obstacles, specifically increased aerodynamic complexity that can make design and testing cumbersome, a number of regulatory and certification and a form that may not be suitable for the existing airport infrastructure.

“The combined wing body aircraft holds immense promise as a game changer in the aviation industry, offering the potential for greater fuel efficiency, greater payload capacity and innovative control systems,” says Miles.

“However, addressing aerodynamic complexities, ensuring structural integrity, navigating regulatory hurdles and adapting airport infrastructure are formidable challenges that must be overcome for this to become a reality,” he says, adding that these challenges, among others, make JetZero’s target for entry into service in 2030 “inconceivable”.

According to Richard Aboulafia, aviation analyst at consulting firm Aerodynamic Advisory, while not all of JetZero’s claims can be verified, “The idea of ​​a combined wing body has been quite attractive for years and it looks like they’ve done some very good research. interesting. My colleagues and I consider it quite promising.”

He is concerned that the company is primarily “a design shop” at the moment, but believes the project could get off the ground with the help of contractors. “There’s certainly room for someone who really wants to add value to this industry,” he says.