A verification model of hybrid wing body (HWB), or blended wing body (BWB) large-scale passenger aircraft developed by China's Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU) successfully completed its test flight, marking a milestone of the technology verification of such a high-end research concept.

The aircraft model made the test flight at the Jingbian General Aviation Airport of Yulin City in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, carrying out test subjects such as takeoff and landing, passing through the field, autonomous flight of the planned route, and successfully completing the expected flight plan.

"Under the background of continuously increased demand for global air transport , global warming and international energy crisis, the development of green aviation which is more 'economical, environmentally friendly, comfortable and safe' has become a consensus in the international civil aviation field," said Zhang Yongjie, a professor from the School of Civil Aviation of NPU.

The shape of the aircraft developed by NPU has a wide and flat fuselage, which is very streamlined. The transition between the fuselage and the wings is smooth without obvious boundaries, and the cabin is located under the slightly bulging fuselage, said Zhang, adding that this kind of aircraft with integrated wings and fuselage is called HWB aircraft, which is the development direction of future civil aircraft.

Eco-friendly aircraft with major breakthroughs 

Currently, the civil aviation aircraft commonly used across the world is composed of a fuselage similar to a cylinder, wings, empennages and engines.

After decades of development, such a traditional layout, with a clear boundary between the wing and the fuselage, is about to reach its limits on aerodynamic efficiency, and its environmental indicators such as fuel consumption, noise and harmful gas emissions cannot be further reduced.

With a series of key technology verification such as large-scale wind tunnel tests, numerical simulations, and scaled-down flights, the NPU team has overcome and mastered a series of key design technologies such as overall design, aerodynamics, aircraft-engine matching and flight control. Significant progress has been made in technologies such as the special structure of the central body and noise suppression.