Speed Philippines – July 2019

JULY 2019 11

WORDS ANTONIO JOSE GALAURAN

AERO ARCHITECTURE

OVERHAUL

V-SHAPED PLANES ARE THE PASSENGER AIRCRAFTS OF THE FUTURE

Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a V-shaped airplane?

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, in partnership with Delft University of Technology

(TU Delft), is introducing a more practical aerial transport solution: the Flying-V, a

V-shaped aircraft, engineered with aerodynamics and fuel efficiency in mind.

Unlike traditional planes where passenger cabins rest between the two wings, this

revolutionary plane design eyes the integration of the cabin along the plane’s wings.

The same cabin will also share space with the cargo and fuel tanks for fuel efficiency.

Meanwhile, the propellers—powered by cutting-edge, sustainable turbofan engines—

are positioned at the rear side of the plane to lessen the noise in the cabin.

The design innovation has drawn comparison to the Airbus A350, the most advanced

aircraft to date. But the Flying V, while capable of accommodating a similar number

of 314 passengers, is projected to use 20 percent less fuel than the former.

Despite undergoing a significant facelift, however, several characteristics of a

traditional plane design remain intact. For instance, the overall wingspan is still

pegged at 65 meters, meaning, it can still be seamlessly integrated into existing

airports, gates, and runways.

The Flying V is a brainchild of Justus Benad, a student of TU Delft, who came up with

the concept of the plane for his thesis.

While yet to be fully executed in the coming years, KLM announced that a scale

model and full-size section of the interior will be presented in October at the KLM

Experience Days at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol as part of the company’s centennial

anniversary. The target completion of the plane is around 2040 to 2050.