Aircraft

Bombardier moves to second prototype of its blended-wing Ecojet

Bombardier moves to second prototype of its blended-wing Ecojet
The Ecojet aims to cut flight emissions by 50% with a blended-wing fuselage designed to contribute lift
The Ecojet aims to cut flight emissions by 50% with a blended-wing fuselage designed to contribute lift
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The Ecojet aims to cut flight emissions by 50% with a blended-wing fuselage designed to contribute lift
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The Ecojet aims to cut flight emissions by 50% with a blended-wing fuselage designed to contribute lift
A second prototype already in the air at ~15% scale, but there's no commitment to bringing a blended-wing design to production as yet
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A second prototype already in the air at ~15% scale, but there's no commitment to bringing a blended-wing design to production as yet

Bombardier says it's stepping up prototype testing on its blended-wing Ecojet project, aiming to use its lift-generating fuselage, low-drag wingspan and propulsion advances to heavily reduce fuel burn and cut emissions in half.

We're seeing more and more of the blended wing idea of late, in the work of groups like Airbus, Natilus, JetZero and NASA. We're not precisely sure why, or even if, this idea's time has arrived. Maybe it's largely to do with hydrogen, which is shaping up as the likely way forward for clean aviation in a zero-carbon transport model. Hydrogen, both in gaseous and liquid forms, takes up a lot of space, and a blended wing fuselage has plenty of extra room.

Maybe it's materials and manufacturing advances giving major companies the confidence that they might be able to build and certify something other than a tube with wings. Maybe anything goes when an entire industry is staring down nigh-impossible looking global zero-carbon mandates in less than 30 years' time; the blended wing concept offers a way to increase lift, reduce drag, reduce noise and lower fuel consumption and emissions as a result.

Maybe it's simply a nice greenwashing opportunity, a way for planet-despoiling fat cats to milk the vim and vigor of idealistic engineering graduates in their first years on the job, pump out renders and churn them into good PR cheese. If so, well, you got us again, you cheeky monkeys. We can't resist a good weird-looking aircraft.

A second prototype already in the air at ~15% scale, but there's no commitment to bringing a blended-wing design to production as yet
A second prototype already in the air at ~15% scale, but there's no commitment to bringing a blended-wing design to production as yet

Business jet manufacturer Bombardier has had a team on the Ecojet project for several years at this point. According to a recent presentation, flight testing is now complete on the company's first blended-wing aircraft prototype, at around 7% scale. A second prototype, double that size, has been flying since sometime last year.

Bombardier is light on detail at this point, simply saying the first prototype proved a new aircraft control architecture, and the team's ability to model these odd wing shapes at transonic speeds. The goal is to cut emissions by 50% compared to a standard jet design, although looking at the renders and the small prototype shown in the video, it's far from the most extreme interpretation of the blended wing concept that we've seen. Indeed, it almost gives the appearance of a regular plane that's been a bit sat on.

But the result is still quite cute, and gives off some mild Thunderbird 2 vibes. Check out a short video below.

Bombardier EcoJet Research Project

Source: Bombardier

6 comments
6 comments
David F
If blended design does lead to more aircraft looking like Thunderbird 2, there could be range of interchangeable pods: passengers, cargo, medical, firefighting, 2-stage-to-orbit, ... Cue the Thunderbirds music!
jerryd
They should have got rid of the horizontal tail at least to be a true blended wing. A tail is no longer needed for stability so just get rid of the weight, drag. Instead make a longer cord wing root for a lot more wing area, lowering wing loading, thus drag, carries much more payload.
H2 just costs too much both itself and systems.
P51d007
You would think, after the NASA researched lifting bodies in the 60's, someone would have already come up with something like this,
If you remember the opening scene from "The Six Million Dollar Man" where he crashed, that was one of the lifting bodies.
paul314
Computer modeling and control systems might also have advanced enough to the point where you can model blended wing performance accurately and be relatively sure they won't fall out of the sky.
pbethel
Seems to have a lot of traditional wing.
Maybe should be calling it a hybrid.
Laszlo KRUPPA
Bombardier "aiming to ... heavily reduce fuel burn and cut emissions in half" - ?? Image of the 7-14% scale dummy shows jet engines as propulsors. (They look too slim for turbofans.) Is the real objective of the project to relocate commercial aviation into the supersonic realm? That would go against fuel saving.