What It Will Be Like Flying On Airbus’ Blended Wing MAVERIC Aircraft

The age of the flying cylinder may be coming to an end. Airbus has unveiled a blended wing demonstrator called MAVERIC (Model Aircraft for Validation and Experimentation of Robust Innovative Controls) at the Singapore Air Show, which joins TUDelft and KLM’s Flying-V concept in proposing a wider cabin for the future of flight.

The greatest advantage of both proposals would be to reduce the carbon footprint of airline operations—through greater fuel economy and higher passenger capacity. The MAVERIC, Airbus states, would burn up to 20% less fuel than a modern single aisle cylinder and wing plane.

“Airbus is leveraging emerging technologies to pioneer the future of flight. By testing disruptive aircraft configurations, Airbus is able to evaluate their potential as viable future products,” said Jean-Brice Dumont, EVP Engineering Airbus. “Although there is no specific time line for entry-into-service, this technological demonstrator could be instrumental in bringing about change in commercial aircraft architectures for an environmentally sustainable future for the aviation industry.” 

The current MAVERIC is a 6.5 ft-long 7.5 ft-wide scale model which has been going through remote control flight trials as a proof of concept, to validate the aerodynamics. It first flew under a cloud of secrecy in Toulouse in June 2019, with trials continuing through the second quarter of this year.  

Inside MAVERIC

While the model is still going through evaluation, the aircraft interiors design team at Airbus is already imagining what the passenger experience might be like onboard a blended wing aircraft.

While there has been some speculation over whether the blended wing aircraft would have real windows or virtual windows—with images projected from the outside—the concept rendering would suggest that real aircraft windows are still a possibility.

Using virtual windows that display images from outside is possible. But as Emirates and Collins Aerospace learned when designing the virtual windows for the airline’s central first class suite, projected images can cause motion sickness. The image shown on virtual windows must be carefully timed to coincide with the motion that the body feels—to avoid making passengers dizzy. For example, when the view of the outside is stable, and the body is shaking from turbulence or with the motion of take-off.

Managing motion sickness will be a central challenge for this wider aircraft design, with passengers on the side rows more likely to feel a pull as the aircraft turns. This could be compensated for by a seat structure that has some suspension mechanism or a design that nestles passengers in a way that compensates for the aircraft’s movement.

The KLM/TUDelft Blended Wing Aircraft

Others in Europe seem to be of a mind on the eco-potential of blended wing aircraft and they have addressed some of these experiential challenges. Last year, KLM and TUDelft revealed their own blended wing aircraft concept—the Flying-V.

Originally developed by TU Berlin student Justus Benad as part of a thesis project at Airbus Hamburg, the Flying-V’s passenger cabin, cargo hold and fuel tanks are all integrated in the wing structure. It would fit around 314 passengers and use approximately 20% less fuel than the current Airbus A350 aircraft.

“The Flying-V is smaller than the A350 and has less inflow surface area compared to the available amount of volume. The result is less resistance. That means the Flying-V needs less fuel for the same distance,” said TU Delft’s project leader, Dr. Roelof Vos.

Like Airbus, TUDelft has already begun imagining the passenger experience onboard. TUDelft Professor of Applied Ergonomics and Design, Peter Vink, and industrial design engineer Thomas Rotte have worked on designs for an oval shaped cabin which would offer different seating options including lounge chairs, group seating, individual seats and collapsible beds.

Some of the design concepts developed at TUDelft for the Flying-V have made their way to the Crystal Cabin Awards short list.

These include a Chaise Lounge proposal for nested seating suspended from the ceiling of the aircraft, developed by Nard van der Werff. This chaise adjusts allowing passengers to switch position and increase recline without interfering with other passengers.

Another Crystal Cabin Awards short listed proposal that might appeal to Economy class passengers is the berth-economy seat combination proposed by Arnoud Meines, MSc of TUDelft. This clever use of space brings the rail experience to the skies by giving passengers lean seats to sit on for take-off and landing which can fold up allowing room for passengers to sleep horizontally.

If aircraft manufacturers can get the balance right on blended wings, then flying wide could be the next step up in sustainable, comfortable travel.