When you come across the title "Is Airbus hiding an evolution?"

[Dave]

You Tube

36 years ago..... at Farnborough airshow.

MD-80 with un-ducted fan.

Good luck to the engineers and designers involved

[BFSGrad]

Originally Posted by Dave

36 years ago..... at Farnborough airshow. MD-80 with un-ducted fan.

Got a bit of that P180 vibe.

[DaveReidUK]

Originally Posted by BFSGrad

Got a bit of that P180 vibe.

I recall it doing a good impression of a flying buzz-saw.

[tdracer]

Originally Posted by FlexibleResponse

And they are planning to test the engine on an Airbus A-380!

Makes a lot of sense if you think about it. Four engine aircraft, so lots of redundancy is something goes seriously wrong and does secondary damage (GE already has a 747-400 based Flying Test Bed - which replaced their 747-100 FTB). Boeing very nearly lost its 'prototype' 767 (VA-001) doing flight testing of the PW4000/94" when it went into non-recoverable surges at 50 ft. during takeoff (and the left seat pilot responded by pulling back both thrust levers - fortunately the guy in the right seat quickly responded by firewalling both throttles - the PW4000 responded by continuing to surge but the JT9D kept them flying).
Boeing long used the prototype 747 (RA-001) as a test bed for new engines (it's part of the Seattle Museum of Flight now). I suspect if Airbus is putting a lot of money and emphasis on the project they wouldn't want to see it flying on a 747 .
Plus, early build A380's are readily available cheap...

If this Hybrid /ac is planning to be cruising at the same altitudes as the current Jetliners, but at much lower speed, and come in big numbers to replace the A32+s , 737s and 220s, we're going to have a major capacity issue when they arrive as they will not mix well with the current fleets. Or they are going to be left below FL290

This was an issue for the 737-3/4/500 series - it cruised significantly slower than other jetliners (although quite a bit faster than 0.72 Mach) - as a result it tended to get less than optimum routing to keep it out of the way of the faster traffic. It was one of the big drivers for the 737 NG program - to modify the wing so it could cruise faster.

[what next]

Originally Posted by tdracer

... as a result it tended to get less than optimum routing to keep it out of the way of the faster traffic.

This is mainly history now. Air traffic, at least in my part of the world, does not fly along airways - which were mandated by ground based navigation aids - any more. There is a growing number of countries that have abolished airways altogether. Aircraft now fly direct routes between convenitntly located waypoints. Therefore it does not matter what speed you fly at, because no other aircraft is flying the exact same route as you. There are exceptions like north Atlantic tracks, but I am certain that a solution to that problem will be found as well.

[Less Hair]

It is optimised to need less fuel. Batteries won't work for big passenger aircraft, so something like the CFM RISE is the next best thing. At least 15 percent less fuel. Plus a new "gull" wing with provisions for even larger diameter engines and possibly moving outer wings, lightweight CFRP-fuselage with wide diameter in the back. Sounds reasonable. I wonder how many seats they install in the cockpit? The funny windows might intend to give some clue?
Anyway, so much better than hydrogen fantasies.

[fleigle]

The Piaggio certainly has that extra “vibe”, due to the closeness of the the prop blades to the trailing edge of the wing?.

[Herod]

Some 45 years ago, I was regularly flying a very high bypass unducted fan. Built by Rolls Royce. It was called the Dart Nothing much new under the sun.

[20driver]

Originally Posted by tdracer

Yet somehow, commercial jet aircraft still look pretty much the same as a 707/DC-8...

I started thinking about learning to fly in the early 90's and started hanging around the local FBO's etc. There was no end of publications full of all the amazing new concepts that were going to revolutionize flying. Well as td says nothing in the basic shape has changed.
At the same time the industry has done an amazing job of incrementally squeezing a bit more juice out of the lemon every year. I have seen the figure 1.4% annual improvement in fuel efficiency often quoted.
The same people who were promoting the "revolution "were also saying this improvement in fuel efficiency would stop.
Still it makes some sense for Airbus to take a flutter on the UDF - They have the money and you never know what you will learn along the way.
As they say never let perfection get in the way of good.

[Joe_K]

Funny that this is being bandied about as "news", Airbus and CFM launched an open fan flight test demonstrator programme back in July 2022, with press release and everything...

https://www.airbus.com/en/newsroom/p...monstrator-for

[waito]

Originally Posted by Joe_K

Funny that this is being bandied about as "news"

So you have seen this plane rendering with its cues before?

BTW, mentour pilot speculates about option for hydrogen tanks in the aft. Giving another purpose for the mid cabin doors.