Next Generation Civil Transport Aircraft Design Considerations for Improving Vehicle and System-Level Efficiency

The future of aviation will benefit from research in aircraft design and air transportation management aimed at improving efficiency and reducing environmental impacts. This paper presents civil transport aircraft design trends and opportunities for improving vehicle and system-level efficiency. Aircraft design concepts and the emerging technologies critical to reducing thrust specific fuel consumption, reducing weight, and increasing lift to drag ratio currently being developed by NASA are discussed. Advancements in the air transportation system aimed towards system-level efficiency are discussed as well. Finally, the paper describes the relationship between the air transportation system, aircraft, and efficiency. This relationship is characterized by operational constraints imposed by the air transportation system that influence aircraft design, and operational capabilities inherent to an aircraft design that impact the air transportation system.