NASA's New X-48C Flying Wing Airplane Uses 50% Less Fuel Than Standard Aircraft

Researchers at NASA have developed a revolutionary flying wing aircraft that uses 50% less fuel than standard planes. The new manta ray-esque X-48C is based on the X-48B Blended Wing Body aircraft, which flew 92 flights

at NASA Dryden between 2007 and 2010. The X-48C improves upon its predecessor with its low-noise, fuel-efficient hybrid wing body (HWB) design.

The X-48C uses an extremely efficient type of engine called an ultra-high bypass ratio engine, which the aero engineering teams at NASA say could use half as much fuel as conventional aircraft. 

It may take 8 to 10 years for the technology to be implemented into conventional aircraft says the NASA manager " Fay Collier "  .

Source: Technologyreview

Photo: NASA