DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ This new 'blended-wing' plane looks like a military stealth bomber and just got the green light to fly after decades of development
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-06 | by ( Taylor Rains | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

California aerospace startup JetZero got the green light to fly its new "Pathfinder" aircraft. The composite technology makes this new load bearing possible, Bragg told BI. "The product is essentially a new airframe and flight controls married to existing systems already certified for commercial flight," JetZero told BI. And most of those 200+ passengers would be in the middle section without a window, which Bragg told BI could put off travelers. Later, American aircraft industrialist and designer Jack Northrop built his famous "Flying Wing" aircraft in the 1940s, laying the framework for the eventual B-2 bomber.

Persons: JetZero, —, Tom O'Leary, Bailey Miles, AviationValues, Michael Bragg, Bragg, Douglas, it's, Jack Northrop, McDonnell Douglas, BWBs Organizations: Service, Aerospace, Federal Aviation Administration, CNN, Business, FAA, Boeing, US Air Force, Pathfinder, University of Illinois, Douglas DC, Airbus, Engineers, USAF, Getty Images Development, MD's, NASA Locations: California

☆ The US Air Force is tinkering with an unusual design for its biggest planes as it prepares for a potential long-range war with China
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-20 | by ( Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The US Air Force sees all those qualities as vital for success in a war in the Pacific region. US Air Force/Air Force AssociationThe design blends the wings and the fuselage, "decreasing aerodynamic drag by at least 30% and providing additional lift," the Air Force said in a release. A US Air Force flight engineer guides an R-11 Refueler next to a C-5M cargo plane at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware in March. A C-130 Hercules lands at Northwest Field, next to Andersen Air Force Base on Guam in February 2010. JetZero has already unveiled a Blended Wing design that the company says will provide a midmarket commercial airliner that's more efficient than the planes it seeks to replace.

Persons: Frank Kendall, Kendall, Air and Space Forces Association . Chaudhary, O'Leary, Tom O'Leary, JetZero, Marco Gomez, Ravi Chaudhary, we've, Tom Jones, Albert Miller, Andrew G, Miller, Jones, Chaudhary, Kathleen Hicks Organizations: Pentagon, US Air Force, Service, Air Force, Air and Space Forces Association ., Air Force Association, The Air Force, Dover Air Force Base, Staff, Northrop Grumman, China's, Air Mobility Command, Northwest Field, Andersen Air Force Base, Refueling, KC, Air Force's, Department Locations: Pacific, Wall, Silicon, China, Delaware, Guam

In an interview, O'Leary said this would not deter JetZero and its radical design. The Air Force said materials and manufacturing advances have made production more attainable. Whereas Boeing aimed to commission new engines for its abandoned project, JetZero says aerodynamic savings allow it to exploit existing models. Capital Alpha Partners analyst Byron Callan said the decision to back JetZero suggested Air Force "frustration" with traditional aerospace companies' use of cash to favor shareholders rather than bigger developmental risks. "One way to potentially change behaviors is to award contracts to smaller firms like JetZero," he wrote.

Persons: Carlos Barria, Tom O'Leary, O'Leary, they're, NORTHROP, Northrop Grumman, Ron Epstein, Byron Callan, JetZero, Valerie Insinna, Tim Hepher, Mark Potter Organizations: Pentagon, REUTERS, Rights, U.S . Air Force, The Air Force, Boeing, Airbus, Reuters, Air Force, Bank of America, Pratt, Capital Alpha Partners, Force, Thomson Locations: Arlington , Virginia, U.S, California, Asia, Kosovo

Search resuls for: "Tom O'Leary"

3 mentions found