Flying the Smarter Skies

a gliding descent would reduce noise and save energy. Since the aircraft would land at a lower speed than is common now, you’d also need less runway.

Fourth, Airbus thinks there’s no reason to run the airplane’s engine so much once the plane lands on the ground. Technology optimizing airplanes’ landing positions could help get them off the runway quicker.

Finally, and less excitingly from the standpoint of a hardware blogger, Airbus wants to use sustainable biofuels.

Airbus has an entire site devoted to its vision of the future, as well as a gallery of over 600 videos on the topic.

Of the above, the vision of fleets of aircraft flying in formation is the most compelling--and potentially controversial. As is the whole notion of a

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