A radical new fuel-efficient V-shaped airliner – which carries 314 passengers, looks like two aircraft fused together and is named after a type of guitar – is due to take to the skies in October.
The initial flight will be in prototype form. It’s due to happen at KLM Experience Days at Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, 3-13 October 2019 – which gives a strong clue to the identity of the airline backing it.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has confirmed it will help to fund the project, lifting the Flying-V’s profile immediately.
The plane’s futuristic V-shaped design wraps passenger cabin, fuel tanks and cargo hold into the wing structure.
Seeing it helps to understand it. The following video gives a good idea of the new craft, named after a famous, identically named Gibson guitar model with a similarly V-shaped body.
The Flying-V is the brainchild of Justus Benad, wheo developed it when he was a student at the Technical University of Berlin. He has since worked with researchers at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, also known as TU Delft, to develop the concept.
Stand by for the Flying-V
A statement by TU Delft says: “Aviation is responsible for around 2.5% of all CO2 emissions worldwide. Because the number of passenger kilometres is growing around 4.5 to 5% per year – we fly more and more often and also longer distances – this percentage is expected to increase rapidly.”
TU Delft added that the Dutch aviation sector, backed by 20 transport organisations and knowledge institutions, had joined forces on a “Smart and Sustainable” plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from aviation from the Netherlands in 2030 by 35%, TU Delft said.
Inspiration for name: Gibson’s famed Flying-V model guitar
While the Flying-V is not as long as the Airbus A350, it has the same wingspan, enabling it to use existing infrastructure at airports, such as gates and runways. The Flying-V would be able to carry the same number of passengers – 314 in standard configuration – and the same volume of cargo.
The Flying-V. How it will look front-on
Written by Peter Needham
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