Boeing recently released a new video showcasing its ecoDemonstrator, an American Airlines Boeing 737-800 outfitted with advanced experimental equipment to test and measure technology that can reduce aviation’s environmental impact.
The video demonstrates how the ecoDemonstrator draws on natural features in constructing the wing and the variable fan nozzle. EcoDemonstrator program manager David Akiyama highlighted Boeing’s study of the movement of birds’ wings, which move constantly in flight. “You’re able to morph wing using concepts observed in nature,” he said. By allowing further adjustments to the wing, Akiyama said, Boeing can “optimize the wing at takeoff, landing, and cruise . . . to burn less fuel and to reduce community noise.”
The ecoDemonstrator is showing ”a 1 percent fuel efficiency improvement,” he added, which, “for these very optimized commercial airplanes that we’re designing is a tremendous amount.”