Concept Aircraft

California startup JetZero says it's working with the USAF, NASA and the FAA to get a blended-wing body jet airliner into service by 2030, promising to use an astonishing 50% less fuel, and providing a perfect platform for clean hydrogen airliners.

With a US$425-million cash injection from NASA, Boeing will build and test a full-sized airliner based on its transonic truss-braced wing (TTBW) concept, using long, thin, strut-braced wings to add lift, reduce drag, and burn an impressive 30% less fuel.

DARPA has awarded Aurora Flight Sciences a phase 2 contract for its CRANE (Control of Revolutionary Aircraft with Novel Effectors) program, following wind tunnel testing of a small-scale X-plane that uses compressed air bursts instead of control surfaces.

Described by his PR team as "like Russia's Elon Musk," serial entrepreneur Mikhail Korkorich says his new company Destinus is building a hydrogen-powered, zero-emissions, transcontinental cargo drone capable of hypersonic Mach 15 cruise speeds.

Reno-based Valkyrie Systems Aerospace has received a research grant from the US Air Force to further develop its remarkable HoverJet Guardian concept, which combines electric VTOL and high-speed jet cruise with amphibious and hovercraft capabilities.

Lufthansa takes inspiration from superyachts in creating its new Explorer Concept, an airborne explorer yacht with a five-star cabin. The aircraft travels the globe in hours, instead of the days or weeks it would take slower expedition vehicles.

Bell has revealed its latest design concepts for the next generation of military rotorcraft, using its High-Speed Vertical Take-Off and Landing (HSVTOL) technology to explore next-gen military vertical lift aircraft capabilities.

German clean aviation companies H2Fly and Deutsche Aircraft are joining forces to develop a hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered airliner capable of carrying 40 people, with a demonstration aircraft set to take its first flights in 2025.

Shifting to alternative propulsion technologies could go a long way toward cleaning up the pollution created by the aviation sector, and a new design by MIT scientists could cut as much as 95 percent of a plane’s harmful nitrogen oxide emissions.

With the move towards electric aviation comes new opportunities to explore what a powertrain looks like, and Airbus is experimenting with a new design that builds entire hydrogen propulsion units, tanks and all, into detachable pods along the wings.

Looking forward to a zero-emission future for the commercial aircraft industry, Airbus has revealed three hydrogen-fueled concepts, including a striking blended wing design, with the aim of putting the first flyer into service by 2035.

Virgin Galactic has taken the wraps off a new commercial jet concept that would fly at three times the speed of sound. The company has enlisted Rolls-Royce to design and develop the engine to power the delta-wing aircraft.