Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Up in the Air with Savoir Faire

There is another side to Savoir Faire which a lot of you do not know. I am a confirmed aviation buff. From looking at my blog one wouldn’t even consider that aviation was something I would be interested in, however I am. I look forward to all commercial aviation announcements whether they be airplane or airline related.

While the below proposal might seem far-fetched, it is one of a number of plans being considered by engineers at Airbus, the European aerospace giant.

Airbus wants to build a passenger plane with a completely transparent fuselage. At the push of a button the captain would a send an electrical pulse through a hi-tech ceramic skin making the main body of the plane see-through.

The extraordinary design would allow travellers to look down on cities and landscapes thousands of feet below or gaze up at the heavens, giving them the sensation of floating unassisted through the sky.

"Passengers in an airplane like this would experience flight in a completely new way," Airbus' head of research and technology, Axel Krein, told Der Spiegel. So if you have a fear of flying I don’t think that this would be the plane for you.

Funny thing is Airbus have not given us any drawings of what this might be like.

Other developments envisaged by Mr Krein's team include an aircraft skin that can repair itself in the event of cracks or breaches and streamline engines that are embedded in the plane's fuselage rather than attached to its wings.

The company claims nano-materials could also be used to enable seats to be 'self-cleaning'. 'In the future each passenger will feel he or she is sitting on a brand new airplane about to take off on its maiden flight’ Now that would be a bonus, maybe we should have the same technology for all public seating.
The report also suggests that 'morphing' seats will be able to adjust to the shape of the passenger for a snug fit and that holographic projections could be used in the cabin to create virtual decors. “So imagine, if you will, stepping in to your pre-selected themed cabin, relaxing into a perfectly clean, ecologically grown seat that changes shape to suit you and looking up through the transparent ceiling at the Milky Way in all its glory,” at an altitude of more than 32,000 feet, the company writes.


"We told our engineers to give their imaginations free rein. What emerged were completely realistic visions of flight in the year 2050," Mr Krein said.

"Our people are grounded in reality, after all. And most of the necessary technology already exists." Maybe all this is just up in the air we will just have to wait another 40 years or so to see!

10 comments:

  1. ...Morning David~
    Almost like James Bond movie!
    I'll fwd to my friend, he'd love this post!!

    xo

    ReplyDelete
  2. Truly amazing concepts and pictures! All I have to say is "PLEASE HURRY!" Oh, and the "self-cleaning" option...would make me fly more often!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. My father is a pilot. I wonder if he knows anything about this? I'll definitely have to show him!! I know for me it would be a bit too thrilling, but perhaps I could just concentrate on the seat in front of me!:)

    H.H.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Welcome to air travel of the future!
    Now if we can just do something about the TSA screeners patting down nuns and toddlers.
    I am putting off planning a vacation because I don't want to go through the whole security screening nonsense.
    Personally, I wont be happy until I can fly only by private jet!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow that sounds scarey yet very interesting. I had no clue-but you seem to be a very smart man.

    :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. goodness...what are those little white things all over the floor. I do hope it's not mice already in such a nice new airplane.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love the idea of staring up to the heavens, but the very thought of staring down for 1,000 feet makes my palms sweaty. But I'm ready for the self-cleaning seats - maybe a self-cleaning sofa, too!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Jason, too funny!

    Sam, You are kind!

    Mark, self cleaning anything would be great.

    Thanks one and all

    ReplyDelete
  9. So what happens when you want to watch a movie and there's no sunshade to pull down to cover the right side of the fuselage?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Almost/Texan, I don't think they have thought of that!

    ReplyDelete

Blog Widget by LinkWithin