airbus wants to build invisible planes

[Amby 490]

This is your captain speaking, your plane is about to become invisible!

Aircraft manufacturer Airbus has theorized a see-through passenger plane for the future, one with a completely transparent fuselage. In this concept craft, the push of a button by the captain would a send an electrical pulse through a high-tech ceramic skin -- making the main body of the plane see-through.

The extraordinary design would allow travelers to look down on cities and landscapes thousands of feet below or gaze up at the heavens, giving them the sensation of floating unassisted through the sky.

"Passengers in an airplane like this would experience flight in a completely new way," Airbus' head of research and technology, Axel Krein, the German news magazine Der Spiegel. Though the proposal might seem far-fetched, it is one of a number of plans being considered by engineers at the European aerospace giant.

Airbus unveiled the concept in "The Future, By Airbus," written by the giant manufacturer for July's Farnsborough Air Show. The report includes information on potential future sources of energy (watch for the "Cryoplane," fueled by hydrogen) and solutions for overcongestion in the air, such as pre-seating passengers in pods that are then loaded onto the plane when it is ready.

Other developments envisaged by Krein's team include an aircraft skin that can repair itself in the event of cracks or breaches and streamline engines that are embedded in the plane's fuselage rather than attached to its wings.

"We told our engineers to give their imaginations free rein. What emerged were completely realistic visions of flight in the year 2050," Krein told Der Spiegel.

But see-through air plane walls clearly take the cake.

"This smarter structure would help to make the aircraft lighter and more cost-efficient while giving the passenger 360 degree views of the skies," wrote the company. "The planes of the future will offer an unparalleled, unobstructed view of the wonders of the five continents -- where you will be able see the pyramids or the Eiffel Tower through the transparent floor of the aircraft."

Though wild, Krein insisted that the concepts aren't pie-in-the-sky guesses, but realistic hopes for the future of the industry.

"Our people are grounded in reality, after all. And most of the necessary technology already exists," he said.

NewsCore contributed to this report.

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/09/17/airbus-wants-build-invisible-passenger-planes/?test=latestnews

[Ban Hammer 13,340]

great, you can also see where you're gonna crash, as it's an airbus.

[mawilson 2,133]

No thanks.

[Nagishkaw 510]

[Amby 490]

I think it sounds like it would be really cool and really freaky at the same time.

Edited September 18, 2010 by Amby

[spookyturtle 9,465]

They should concentrate on getting them to fly and land safely before making them invisible. And I think that the military would be more interested in this than a passenger carrier.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Slackers. I have been building and selling invisible planes for decades. You don't see them at every airport you have been to in the last 20 years. You can have one of your own. Send me a check for $5,000,000 and I will send you a 12 passenger invisible private Jet of your very own. Allow 4-6 weeks for delivery, each is hand made to your specifications. You wait a little longer but you get exactly what you want.

Each time you fly it, you can send me $100 per hour flown and I will offset the carbon output of the invisible airplane with carbon credits...also invisible which I have been selling since the movie "An Inconvenient Truth" came out.

[Julie y Pat 67]

Hey Gary, I'd like to order one, with green corduroy seats. Oh, wait, if they're invisible I guess it doesn't matter. But I think I'll pass on the carbon credit thing, if they're invisible, how would I even know they're real?

[^_^ 5,021]

I like it.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

I'm guessing that such an aircraft will be good only for short hops (unless the passengers happen to become invisible along with the fuselage)--as one would NOT want to be in the tiny washroom at the time.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Also, will the airlines ordering such aircraft only allow tall shapely brunettes in spandex US-flag-modelled uniforms to fly them?

[Scott & Lai 12]

Edited September 20, 2010 by Scott & Lai

[ValerieA 350]

They'd better have a lot of vomit bags on board.

[Captain Oates 911]

Back from the UK to Seattle via Amsterdam on an airbus last night and it was much better than the Boeing 767 we went out on...

A 10 hour flight on the 767 is awful as the seat level tops out at the base of my neck and the seat shapes are all wrong.

Boeings are carbon fibre. I once saw a fibre glass Reliant car turned to powder when it crashed - if the resonance is just right it will do that.

Perhaps the new invisible Airbuses will be good for the wives of politicians - they could go to the airport lounge and see if their husbands are sat on there with their secretaries or male escorts.

Edited September 20, 2010 by Alan the Red

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Back from the UK to Seattle via Amsterdam on an airbus last night and it was much better than the Boeing 767 we went out on...

A 10 hour flight on the 767 is awful as the seat level tops out at the base of my neck and the seat shapes are all wrong.

Boeings are carbon fibre. I once saw a fibre glass Reliant car turned to powder when it crashed - if the resonance is just right it will do that.

Perhaps the new invisible Airbuses will be good for the wives of politicians - they could go to the airport lounge and see if their husbands are sat on there with their secretaries or male escorts.

Also, if there are empty rows in the centre-section (generally 4-wide) of an airbus, I can stretch my 6'1" frame acroos and lie down acceptably (not as comfy as my cot, but...) which I never could do in the 3-wide centre-section of 767 (or edge-section of 747).

(edit: on some airlines, that is impossible--as there will be very few empty seats, let-alone entire row centre-section)

Edited September 20, 2010 by Saddle Bronc