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Content archived on 2024-05-29

New aircraft concepts research

Objective

Over the past fifty years, the main driver for aircraft design was to improve aircraft operational efficiency, which led to converge to an almost universal configuration, which now dominates the commercial airplane market. Given that air traffic is forecasted to more than double in the next twenty years and that both environmental and economical pressure will strongly increase, significant progress will need to be achieved in both improving the efficiency and minimising the environmental impact of aircraft. This may not no longer be achievable with today's configuration. Designing suitable Novel Aircraft Concepts will require developing capabilities in the complete range of aeronautical disciplines and technologies. The New Aircraft Concepts Research (NACRE) Integrated Project will investigate, from 2005 to 2009, into the development of the concepts and technologies required for Novel Aircraft Concepts at aircraft component level: Wing, Fuselage, Engine Integration on a range of Novel Aircraft Concepts: the Pro-active Green aircraft, the Payload-Driven Aircraft and the Simple Flying Bus. NACRE will take full benefit of the preliminary activities initiated in Europe on Novel Aircraft Concepts in the frame of the FP5 projects ROSAS, VELA & NEFA. The NACRE consortium is composed of 35 partners from 13 countries (including Russia), providing an impressive spread of expertise throughout the EU. Stepping into the second century of controlled flight, the NACRE project team is animated by the same innovative enthusiasm and solid rationale pioneered by the Wright brothers. The permanent assessment of alternative concepts, to be performed within NACRE, will guarantee both that the best capabilities are available and that the spirit for engineering innovation is preserved and developed for further exploitation.

Call for proposal

FP6-2003-AERO-1
See other projects for this call

Coordinator

AIRBUS SAS
EU contribution
No data
Total cost
No data

Participants (35)