21st Congress of International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences, Melbourne, Australia, 13-18 September, 1998
Paper ICAS-98-4.10.3

THE ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGE AS CHANCE FOR THE NEXT CENTURY AIRCRAFT DESIGN

Szodruch J., Oelkers W., Schumacher J.
Daimler-Benz Aerospace Airbus GmbH, Germany

Keywords: environmental challenge, next century aircraft design

The general tendency currently strongly expressed in the aeronautical community is that the years to come are characterised by production cost saving and lead time reduction. Technological developments seem to have reached a certain saturation level and often financial analysts miss the cost benefits. However, the future challenges require further technology advancements, but technologies of a different quality. One of the major challenges for air transport in the next century is certainly the environmental aspect. The present paper takes a fresh look on how these upcoming requirements can translate into a competitive chance for the next century aircraft design by looking into the achievements, future market and legislation requirements as well as design and operation of aircraft. Finally two different design approaches will be discussed presenting potential benefits from aircraft configuration and technologies for environmental criteria.

view full paper