…yes it may not have much business sense right now but I had this nagging curiosity on how big airplanes can get since the flight of the A380. Yes you can say there’s no limit from a technical standpoint. As long as you have enough materials and power, a plane with a 10 kilometer wingspan carrying a million people can be built, right? But I’m not here to argue that.
It has been stated that the A380 (particularly the planned but undeveloped A380-900) maxes out the
80x80m box agreed upon by airports around the world. How can an airliner become even bigger without rewriting all the rules of airport infrastructure, without inventing extremely advanced technologies and without sacrificing comfort and performance big jetliners have today?
The question is: what is the biggest airliner we can build and certify now?
I’ve taken a look at several concepts intended for large transport aircraft from flying wings to “sky-whales” until I found a design with huge potential for VLAs. It’s called the
box wing.
Here’s a
video of a box wing being tested in flight.
More about box wings
here. Also see page 45 further explaining the potential of box wings for very large aircraft.
So here is my design solution:
WINGS
More reasons why I chose a box wing:
1. In a forward-backward swept wing combo with enough vertical separation a box wing will have a huge lifting capability needed for a wingspan-constrained aircraft.
2. It naturally has very good vortex reducing wingtip devices.
3. It has a relatively strong structure compared to a single cantilever wing. This can allow for a thinner, lighter wing structure.
4. Box wings can eliminate the need for a separate horizontal stabilizer.
5. The brackets that close the wingtips can double as a vertical stabilizer and rudder.
6. The wing configuration can allow significantly more yaw, pitch and roll control options.
7. Engines can be mounted on the top wing giving them significant ground clearance to prevent ingestion of FOD. This also allows for space for ever expanding bypass ratios of aircraft engines.
FUSELAGE
Making the most out of the lift the wings are capable of, I found a triple-decker, multi-bubble to be the best design: 3-4-3 upper deck, 3-6-3 main deck and 3-6-3 lower deck giving the cross-section total of 34-abreast compared to total 18-abreast (potential 19-abreast) A380. This easily fits 1,000 in 3-class configuration. The design also eliminates the need for three or more aisles which poses hazards to emergency evacuation process.
FRONT CENTER WING BOX
To make this plane competitive in belly cargo capacity, I have placed the front center wing box through the lower deck cabin. This design makes for a continuous belly cargo hold that can accommodate 94 LD3 containers. There will be two corridors cutting through the wing box that will act as passage between the front and rear cabin. Instead of fuel tanks, the leftover space can be used for galley storage leaving the rest of the cabin for passengers.
PASSENGER/CARGO LIFT
Aside from the two staircases, the three passenger decks will be connected via lift. This is for the purpose of transporting persons with disability between decks as well as beverage trolleys, among many others. The lift will be located aft of the wing box.
ATRIUM & MEZZANINE
Since the curvature of the fuselage nose cone will cause the upper deck’s ceiling to curve downward, the space at the front will be of little use, so I decided to cut the upper deck’s floor short in order to create a mezzanine that overlooks a small atrium on the main deck. This is also where the main staircase is located giving an impression of a grand hall for passengers entering the aircraft. Due to this, the main deck atrium can only have limited overhead bins so this space can be used as a lounge or shop by premium carriers but it can also be used for more seats by LCCs.
I am not a certified engineer whatsoever and I have never formally studied engineering or aeronautics in my life. Compared to professionals, I only have a rudimentary understanding of aircraft design. I have a background though in architecture hence, some proficiency in 3D modeling.
Thank you for taking the time to read my post. I’ll post more detailed renderings soon. Anyway could it work? What do you think?
I have searched far and wide to find a place to share this where there are people with much expertise on the subject. I hope this is the right place to post this. If not, feel free to move this thread. Also I am inspired by keesje with his work with the Turboliner, Greenliner and the Ecoliner among many others.