RING THE CHANGES
Incredible ‘ring-wing’ plane of the future with ONE wing would allow for tiny runways, less fuel and smooth landings
The futuristic concept was actually designed decades ago
AN INCREDIBLE plane with just one huge circular wing has fascinated plane enthusiasts for years.
The Lockheed Ring Wing was designed to use up less fuel, have smoother landings and be able to land on tiny runways.
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Looking like it came from decades in the future, the aircraft spanned a whopping 170ft with its unique wing that stood 75ft tall.
Its circular wing arched back 27 degrees to attach itself to the tail of the aircraft.
The plane was specially made to help with fuel conservation on short commercial flights that didn't require travelling in high altitude.
Carrying up to 120 passengers, the unconventional design offered some interesting aerodynamic advantages.
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Due to there being no ends to the wings as it was a complete circle, it could generate more lift.
This meant it didn't use up as much fuel and carried a lighter load as well as being affected less by crosswinds.
As it was a lot slimmer than the average plane, width wise, it also meant special runways could be used that take up less space.
Despite all these huge benefits the plane never officially made its first historic flight.
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Due to the innovation it made it a lot harder to make and therefore a whole load more expensive as manufacturers had never made it before.
The potentially clever system was also let down by a huge increase in parasitic drag caused by the increased lift.
This essentially meant the fuel load saved was cancelled out by the drag, making it use up just as much fuel anyway.
The wacky concept was made by aerospace engineer Rolo Smithers in the 80s.
The original idea came from some of the first aircraft concepts ever built in France that had circular closed wings.
One of the first planes created had two large circular wings on it - one at the front and one at the back - instead of the flat wings we now see.
They weren't the best concepts as outside of a few bunny hops taking it off the ground it couldn't get further than a few feet in the air at one time.
Earlier this month, a supersonic plane that promises to be the next generation of commercial travel announced it was in the works.
Designed by Oscar Viñals from Barcelona, Spain, the spaceship-like aircraft looks like something straight out of Star Wars and can carry 300 passengers in ultra-lux flights.
It is also powered by electricity and reaches a top speed of around 1,150mph.
NASA has also been working on a supersonic hydrogen plane that aims to be twice as fast as Concorde.
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The US space agency has been researching the possibility of a Mach 4 passenger jet that only takes 1.5 hours to get from New York to London.
If the plane was to achieve that flight it would be four times faster than what's currently possible with commercial aircraft.
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