"In 2010, under its NASA-funded Subsonic Ultra Green Aircraft Research (Sugar) project, Boeing produced the design for a 737-size aircraft with a strut-braced wing," writes Graham Warwick, senior editor of Aviation Week.
"The high-aspect-ratio wing, combined with hybrid turbine/electric propulsion and other advanced technologies, was needed to meet NASA's so-called N+3 goal of reducing fuel burn by 60% for an airliner entering service in 2030-35."
Phase 2 of the project will wrap up this year, and will involve updating the technology road maps and research recommendations established in Phase 1.
“We will recommend more wind-tunnel testing and more wing design work,” says Marty Bradley, Sugar principal investigator at Boeing Research & Technology.
Read the full story, "NASA, Boeing Test Low-Drag Truss-Braced Wing Concept" on Aviation Week, IndustryWeek's sister publication.
