I am not too sure which section to post this in, so if this is the wrong section please advise.
As part of the company that I work for we had a very interesting chat about the study into quiet aircraft.
Details here :-
Team moves toward silent, eco-friendly plane - MIT News Office
As part of the study into reducing aircraft noise, MIT and Cambridge University (paid for by the government) proposed a new design that was also energy efficient.
From my understanding Boeing were also performing studies into this as well.
Typical take off noise figures were lowered to 63db (loud talking noise levels).
That's quite an achievement.
There were some downsides to this aircraft :-
Servicing and access to the engines.
30% cost increase in manufacture compared to conventional aircraft.
Small technical issue with Turbofan and bypass fan technology but this is mostly resolved with Pratt & Whitney
geared fan technology.
So apart from the minor issues above, why is no one going to build it ?
With ever increasing complains from noise nimby's and more aircraft movements, I would have thought that this would have progressed further than just a two year study........
Also if these aircraft existed, would you travel on one ?
RD