Blended Wing Body Aircraft; The Future? In the future passenger jet aircraft may look a little different than what we are accustomed to currently. The narrowbody single-aisle and double-aisle large body aircraft that have dominated the skies from manufacturers like Boeing and Airbus could soon have some competition by BWB type aircraft. BWB (Blended Wing Body) aircraft are currently being tinkered with and a few companies are either actively working on prototypes and presenting their design proposals.
For example, Natilus has already been testing a sub-scale Kona prototype for the last few years and are currently working on a full-scale prototype which is expected to commence test-flying in 2026. Natilus has claimed a backlog of orders for 580 aircraft, worth a total of up to $23 billion. This is however, for the cargo drone side of their business. For the passenger version which is targeting 200 seats and a range of around 3,500 nautical miles, the Horizon Natilus passenger aircraft is an interesting proposition.
One of the issues with this design, given the shape of the aircraft, the majority of passengers will not be able to see outside via a window as we do currently. It appears that only the first 5 rows in first class will have some access to physical windows while the rest of the cabin wont. To compensate for the lack of visual cues to the exterior in the remainder of the cabin, Natilus is equipping the Horizon with an intelligent lighting system that can coordinate with in-flight entertainment display screens to simulate the outside world.
However, Natilus aren't the only company working on BWB designs for the future. Jet Zero have their Z4 design which is similar looking as you might imagine BWB designs for passenger tasks will tend to have a particular shape. Jet Zero is a company from California that is targeting the commercial, freight and military applications. On the commercial side, the aircraft will still be able to utilize existing commercial airport infrastructure.
Jet Zero suggests that fuel bills will be cut in half and the aircraft have a range of around 5,000 nautical miles. Jet Zero recently unveiled what the cabin may look like for the Z4 in the future. JetZero has worked with the Factorydesign studio to maximize the potential opened up by the internal volume of the BWB, which is far greater than that within a conventional 'tube and wing' fuselage.
Bombardier has been doing testing with a technology demonstrator for their EcoJet. This aircraft would be on a smaller scale but it features the same Blended Wing Body and some of the much larger aircraft in this article. They suggests that the BWB will be Global 6000 business jet sized. The company has already fielded two demonstrators.
The 18-foot-wingspan air vehicle was revealed to the public at an EBACE in May back in 2022 having made its first flight in late 2022. Even though a much smaller craft flew back in 2017 the program has been constantly evaluating efficiency points as many contenders have been touting 50 percent less fuel burn with this type of blended wing body. Only time will tell whether this form-factor makes its way to production reality in the future. ***
