This was published 9 years ago
Airbus 'flying doughnut' design: Is this the shape of planes to come?
By David Millward
The 'flying doughnut' design Airbus has put in a patent request for.Credit: Airbus
Forget the sleek pencil shaped jet airliner, the future is the flying doughnut.
Airbus, the company which created the stubby cigar-shaped Airbus A380 superjumbo, has come up with an even more radical blueprint for the future.
The design, submitted to the European Patent Office, has an air of the 1950s science fiction film about it.
This aircraft, should it ever be built, would not have a pair of wings, tail and conventional fuselage.
Instead the wings sweep back from the nose and encompass both the fuselage and tail.
Inside the aircraft the passenger cabin is circular with a hole in the middle looking like a fat polo mint or a ring doughnut.
Even with this unconventional shape, it remains possible to cater for three classes of passenger, with economy and premium economy travellers in the outer ring and business class in the inner circle.
The design offers a number of advantages, according to experts.
Aircraft designers have long thought the perfect shape for a plane was "a flying wing", dispensing with the fuselage.
This means that a radical redesign of the passenger cabin is necessary, with the doughnut offering the best of space.
However there are a number of challenges to be met including how would passengers react to being nowhere near a window.
Getting passengers on and off could prove tricky and airports might have make some major adjustments.
Not only would they have to get passengers on and off the plane, but they would also need to be able to refuel and service the aircraft..
It is not the only surreal idea being considered by the aviation industry.
Ryanair has in the past suggested that it could slash the cost of air travel by selling "vertical" seats for standing passengers.
However Airbus did sound a note of caution for its flying doughnut, saying it was one of around 6000 ideas its engineers come up with each year and the patent application was designed to protect the company's intellectual property.
The Telegraph, London
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