Boundary-Layer Ingestion Key To MIT/NASA D8 Hopes

Commercial aircraft designs that depart from today's tube-and-wing shape demand equally innovative propulsion systems if they are to stand any chance of breaking the mold and providing the benefits anticipated by their creators. With its engines flush-mounted beneath a pi-shaped tail, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) D8 concept with its “double-bubble” lifting fuselage is no exception. Sized to replace aircraft in the Airbus...

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People Who Design and Build

Aerodynamicist: During the design process, the aerodynamicist works hard with the other design engineers to make sure that the airplane, missile, car, boat, or truck moves easily through the air or the water. He or she does this by building a model of the object to be designed and then testing it. One way to do this is to build a scale model and place it in a wind tunnel or a water tunnel. This way the engineer can observe and measure the way the air or water behaves when the object is moving. Click on one of our interviews to hear about...

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