Future Of Aviation

Aerospace scientists, engineers and designers are continuously working on various projects to make air travel faster, safer, eco-friendly and experiential.

- R. Chandrakanth

BY 2050, THAT IS a little over three decades away, what would airplanes look like and how would they perform? Certainly, they would look different and perform differently. If we look at the history of aviation, we will understand how aviation has continuously evolved from one decade to another, since the Wright Brothers gave us ‘wings to fly’. Planes have become smarter, faster, eco-friendly, and user-friendly, while structurally they look as ‘futuristic’ as they can get with new materials in play. Aerospace scientists, engineers and designers are continuously working on various projects to make air travel faster, safer, eco-friendly, and experiential. Beginning 2017, we look at some of the futuristic programmes, both in civil and military aviation.

X-PLANES FROM NASA

The United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has been in the forefront of aeronautics research for decades now. The aeronautical innovators at NASA are preparing to put in the sky an array of new experimental aircraft, each intended to carry on the legacy of demonstrating advanced technologies that will push back the frontiers of aviation.

NASA’s renewed emphasis on X-planes is called “New Aviation Horizons,” an initiative announced in February as part of the President’s budget for the fiscal year that begins October 1, 2016. The plan is to design, build and fly the series of X-planes during the next 10 years as a means to accelerate the adoption of advanced green aviation technologies by industry. “If we can build some of these X-planes and demonstrate some of these technologies, we expect that will make it much easier and faster for US industry to pick them up and roll them out into the marketplace,” said Ed Waggoner, NASA’s Integrated Aviation Systems Program Director.