MIT designed a replacement for Boeing

The new model, which will replace the Boeing 737 and 777, may not appear at all from the Boeing design bureau. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently presented two highly efficient, low-emission models to NASA, which are the result of a research agreement signed by the university with NASA in 2008. The challenge that MIT set for itself was to design quiet subsonic airplanes that emit 70% less NO ₂ , burn 70% less fuel than current models, and are able to take off from short runways.


As a result of the study, two models were designed:
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- Aircraft D-series with a capacity of 180 passengers, designed to replace the Boeing 737.
- Aircraft H-series with a capacity of 350 passengers c hybrid wing shape, which in turn can replace the Boeing 777.

Here is what they say at MIT about the "fish-like" design of the D-series:

The design concept of the D-series aircraft is based on a modified “pipe-and-wing” structure. Instead of using a single fuselage cylinder, MIT engineers used two partial cylinders placed side by side to create a wider structure, the cross section of which resembles two combined soap bubbles. They also moved the engines from their usual location under the wing closer to the rear of the fuselage. Unlike the engines on most transport airplanes, which pass through a fast, calm airflow, the D-series engines suck up the slower moving air that is present near the fuselage.

The model of the D-series aircraft performs the flight at 10% slower than the 737, in order to reduce drag and stress on the engines. But this does not mean that the flight on such an aircraft will take more time. The wide fuselage provides fast loading and unloading, which could compensate for some of the differences in flight time. At the same time, despite the fact that the plane looks quite unlike the Boeing 737, it is quite similar in form to properly interact with the airport infrastructure.



The triangular plane of the H-series looks even stranger - probably because it has no tail at all. MIT engineers explain that the center's massive body provides sufficient lift pull that eliminates the need to balance the plane with the tail.

Series H and D are not the first attempts of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the design of aircraft. As part of the Silent Aircraft Initiative, a joint project between MIT and Cambridge, the aircraft was designed to be 3,000 times quieter than today's models. Like the newer MIT models, the SAX-40 is like a kind of sea creature.

The MIT team expects to hear from NASA over the next few months whether they were selected for the second phase of the program, which will provide additional funding to one or two of the teams in 2011, to explore and develop the technologies developed during the first phase. . Researchers recognize that the technology of the engines is not yet fully investigated. But even if the MIT projects are not selected for the second phase, the researchers hope to continue developing them, including testing reduced models in the MIT wind tunnel and working with manufacturers to figure out how to make the concept a reality.

All this makes us wonder: why the more airplanes become effective, the more and more they use organic forms inspired by nature?