Some say that future airplanes are here now with some of the military aircraft that are flying above some of the vast testing grounds around the globe. What Joe Public doesn’t know seems futuristic, right? Remember when the Stealth Bomber was first unveiled? This seemed at the time like science fiction had turned to reality rather quickly.
Right now, in the Middle East, if any hostile regime wanted to cut the Internet to its people, the U. S. has the technology to restore service if this is desired and commanded. Military airplanes circling above large cities could serve as wifi hotspots in these regions. Add to this satellite technology and the world is once again wired in.
But, what I’m talking about now are future airplanes that are beyond what the military has to offer. The first round of future airplanes beyond anything we have today will be powered by hydrogen fuel cell. As we discuss this (Okay, it’s me talking and you reading) there have already been a few manned flights of small hydrogen fuel cell powered aircraft that have circled the airport and landed just to prove the concept works such as from Boeing and Antares plus a few others.
But future planes powered by hydrogen will have the technology worked out and in place in the next 5 to 10 years. For instance one of the roadblocks now is storing enough hydrogen onboard in either compressed state, solid or the use of some form of metal hydrides for storage for long distance flights.
Future airplanes will have lightweight tanks that hold more hydrogen molecules than anyone can now imagine. In the future fuel cells will be lighter, stronger, more powerful and more durable than today. Also future planes will be plug-in hybrids as well, taking advantage of the best practices and technology in regard to battery storage of electricity.
This is the recent future I’m talking about here as in within the next 10 – 15 years this will be happening. Now, going a little further out, future airplanes will start to develop more aerodynamic designs based upon advance carbon fiber (and nano-fiber) materials created by the use of nanotechnology.
Spaceplanes for the space tourism industry, which will be common in the next 5 years will use a variety of fuels including hydrogen and even fuel grade hydrogen peroxide which is currently used in jetpacks.
Now, let’s talk about the future fuels that will power airplanes 15-plus years from now. Of course all of the alternative fuels are on the table and will be used in various designs and to varying degrees. Jet fuel such as JP-8 will be mixed with various biofuels only to be replaced by biofuels altogether.
Hydrogen, biofuels and even some electric planes will still exist 15-plus years from now and will exist for quite a long time thereafter. But, some of the emerging technology now for future planes will start to blossom in this time frame including the use of magnetic energy, nuclear energy and even plasma energy. NASA and others are working on these right now.
The holy grail for future planes and for anything that takes energy to run would be a perpetual motion machine or battery of some sort, but if this happens (and it is likely it will), then the development of such energy source is still centuries away.
Approximately 30 – 50 years from now, future airplanes, aircraft and spacecraft will be running on plasma energy. Scientists all over the world have been working on plasma reactors for decades. And in the next 30 to 50 years all of this hard work will pay off as there will be breakthroughs advancing the use of plasma reactors in aircraft until finally disruptive technology will transform the airline industry forever. The 4th generation of the Vasimr rocket anyone?
Besides the propulsion methods, major changes will also occur in the design such as fixed wing, variable wing, rotors vs. tilt-rotors and non- rotors. Also major technological changes will occur in navigational methods based upon quantum leaps in GPS technology, onboard robotics and other automation that will eventually leave pilots behind on some aircraft. At first pilots will fly aircraft remotely and then will be phased out for some aircraft.
Of course with all future predictions no one can know for sure the exact time frames of how future airplanes will develop. One thing is for certain though, is that if we base our future predictions upon current technology and a small leap of faith we won’t find ourselves too off course when the time for future travel is here and now.
For the latest news on future airplanes check out this section of the website and see how the leading edge will lead us right where we want to go.
Credits: Boeing, NASA