Advanced air transport concepts
The concepts of laminar flow control, very large all-wing aircraft, an aerial relay transportation system and alternative fuels, which would enable large improvements in fuel conservation in air transportation in the 1990's are discussed. Laminar boundary layer control through suction would greatly reduce skin friction and has been reported to reduce fuel consumption by up to 29%. Distributed load aircraft, in which all fuel and payload are carried in the wing and the fuselage is absent, permit the use of lighter construction materials and the elimination of fuselage and tail drag. Spanloader aircraft with laminar flow control could be used in an aerial relay transportation system which would employ a network of continuously flying liners supplied with fuel, cargo and crews by smaller feeder aircraft. Liquid hydrogen and methane fuels derived from coal are shown to be more weight efficient and less costly than coal-derived synthetic jet fuels.