New Boeing 787 consumes 20 percent less fuel

Although the flight industry is still focused on the long-delayed giant, the Airbus A350, the great rival's all-new Boeing 787 Dreamliner is about to take off. The new aircraft - due to be flying by March, 2008 - is the most innovative and most eco friendly commercial aircraft ever made.

The single greatest innovation of the Dreamliner is the material used: Boeing 787 will be the first aircraft made of composites. These materials - graphite fiber and poly-cyanate ester plastic composite material to be as precise as possible - are four times stiffer and forty percent lighter than aluminium - by now the most important material of aircraft structures. The new material conducts heat as well as aluminum, which is an advantage over other composites that have low conductivity and require additional equipment to cool the electronics, for example that are used on composite-made satellites.

The new material and aerodynamical changes result not only in a smoother and more confortable flight, but will also be quieter, and lower the costs of the maintenance as well. Fuel consumption for these aircrafts will be an estimated 20 percent lower, than any other commercial aircraft's.

"Our expectation is that fossil fuels will be around for some time." - sais Tom Cogan, the Chief Project Engineer of the 787 Dreamliner. "As the world’s population grows and nations become more industrialized, obviously alternate power sources are going to be required. When the fuel cell technology becomes evolved, we can replace the jet engine in the back (APU) producing electricity with a fuel cell. That should not be in the too distant future. The 787 was targeted to be 20 percent more fuel efficient than anything out there flying today. The whole reason for the program was recognizing we needed to reduce fuel burn."