Point to Point Commercial Aircraft Service Design Study Including Formation Flight and Morphing

Abstract

†Current transatlantic commercial aircraft service depends heavily on the hub and spoke system to route passengers to their destinations. By adopting a point-topoint route structure airlines might be able to transport passengers to their destinations faster by avoiding layover times associated with connecting flights. Many privately-owned business jets and a few “business-class-only” commercial flights regularly fly point-to-point transatlantic routes, which reduces trip time by several hours from that of commercial service but at a very high cost per passenger. Few commercial transport aircraft, however, are well-suited for long-range pointto-point flights, because the cost of operation exceeds the expected revenue from a standard mixed class aircraft with predominately economy class passengers. The design of a small-capacity transatlantic aircraft for point-to-point service may alleviate this problem; a combination of two technologies for reducing fuel consumption makes this concept even more appealing. First, fuel requirements on long range flights can be decreased by taking advantage of the drag reduction associated with formation flight. NASA studies have demonstrated up to twenty percent reduction in drag through the use of formation flight. Applying this to point-to-point transatlantic commercial service can reduce the cost to allow for economy class passengers to travel. Second, adaptive geometry can counteract the adverse roll environment trailing aircraft experience in a formation flight. The design can take advantage of the developments in adaptive structures and materials which has lead to morphing aircraft capabilities. Active geometry aircraft could use an asymmetric wing to counteract the rolling moment and reduce trim drag and control requirements, and possibly overall weight. With the completion of this study, the design of three types of aircraft will be examined: fixed geometry pointto-point service, fixed geometry formation flight service, and morphing formation flight service. They will be compared to each other with three metrics – Gross Takeoff Weight (GTOW), Direct Operating Cost (DOC) per year, and DOC per trip. These designs will then provide a basis for comparison with currently operated transatlantic service with similar range routes. Currently, significant technical and regulatory hurdles exist for both formation flight and morphing aircraft; however, potential commercial transport benefits suggested by this study could support the case for further development of these technologies.