In what is being hailed as a breakthrough, KLM has managed to fly its vision of the future of air travel – while only breaking one of its wheels off in the process.
Well, sort of. The version they flew is small enough to fit in a car parking space, about 20 times smaller than the full size model.
The KLM Flying V prototype, named after the guitar of the same name, is essentially what happens when you take a conventional airplane and throw away the bit where the people go. Despite that, it’s no laughing matter. Being the same width as a conventional plane, it would be compatible with regular airports but with 20% better fuel efficiency. That would be enough to save about 40 million tonnes of CO2 from the flights to and from the UK each year alone – as much as four million Britons produce in the same time.
It also happens to look really, really cool compared to a boring old regular plane. Hopefully these two (equally important) details can help change the perception of an industry seen by many as on the wrong side of history vis a vis climate change.
Those people would probably prefer it if planes went all electric, but as the project’s leader Dr Roelof Vos told CNN, “We cannot simply electrify the whole fleet, as electrified airplanes become way too heavy and you can’t fly people across the Atlantic on electric airplanes — not now, not in 30 years”.
The rough landing was caused by (ironically for a Netherlands-designed plane) an unwanted swaying called Dutch roll. Happily, this is fairly common with model airplanes, and Dr Vos says the data they collected can be used to prevent it in the future.
The first run of Gibson Flying V guitars was spectacularly unsuccessful, with only 100 being manufactured and sold in the first production run. Managing that number with their new aircraft would be great news for KLM, though, given that Boeing only manufactured 806 in 2018.
The project remains in its very early stages, with no timeframe for when passengers (who sit near the front, in the wings) can expect to set off in one. I’m sure this person can’t wait.
