Mel Tisdale
Imagine hitting a particularly energetic thermal or downdraft, or even the wingtip vortex from a 'heavy' or 'super'!
Nik
Why not make two wings so that both brace each other, ie, like a biplane wing, but with the tips connected, they could then be shorter.
DomainRider
Wow, half the fuel and emissions makes it a no-brainer, but they may have to redesign airport taxiing and handling facilities if the wingspan is 50% bigger...
watersworm
Half the consumption ??? Hope so, but i am a little sceptical. Waiting for real life results.
Primecordial
Where is the fuel going to be stored?
Martin Hone
These so-called trusses are generally known as 'struts'. Most small, high wing light aircraft (think Cessna) have a strut braced wing rather than having to have a much stronger and heavier cantilever design. So nothing new here. And a very high aspect ratio wing is generally used for high altitude work, as in the U2 spy plane as well as in gliders.....
sagebrush6
An issue not addressed is airport parking. There already seems to be a shortage of parking on the tarmac now.
Timelord
Both NASA and Boing have been studying joined-wing aircraft for decades. Why are they stepping back from that in favor of this?
Lance
Sagebrush6, you are right, there are wingspan limits for aircraft terminals. They would need to fold the wings up to fit into them.