MIT designs brilliant new commercial aircraft

MIT and the nerds who populate its labs, halls and student unions have done it again. You can't miss mentions of these guys in the news whether they're designing no emissions balloons and kites that can be sent up to take photos and gather data on the oil spill and or in this case, designing two crazy new aircraft that could totally change commercial air travel (at least from an emissions and fuel usage standpoint).

Here are the two new models:




From Fast Company:

The next major replacements for the Boeing 737 and 777 models might not come from Boeing at all. MIT researchers recently presented NASA with two models for efficient, low emissions planes--part of a $2.1 million research contract awarded to the university by NASA in 2008. MIT's objective: design quiet subsonic planes that emit 70% less NOx, burn 70% less fuel than current models, and have the ability to take off from short runways. In true MIT style, the university delivered--albeit with designs that completely reimagine the traditional aircraft silhouette.

Two models emerged from MIT's research--The 180-passenger D "double bubble" series, intended to replace the Boeing 737, and the 350 passenger H "hybrid wing body" series, a replacement for the Boeing 777.

Read more here.