Airbus Blended Wing Aircraft Demonstrator

This is Airbus MAVERIC, a so-called “blended wing aircraft” demonstrator. MAVERIC, if you must really know, stands for Model Aircraft for Validation and Experimentation of Robust Innovative Controls.

Quite a mouthful, so we will just stick to MAVERIC. Anywho, just as we thought the Concept KLM Flying V passenger jet was ridiculous, Airbus revealed that it has been developing a similar concept.

Airbus Blended Wing Aircraft Demonstrator

As a matter of fact, MAVERIC was launched in 2017 and first took to the skies in June 2019. This recent update saw Airbus revealing what it refer to as “scale model technological demonstrator.”

Like the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit, the MAVERIC is basically a flying wing, but very much larger and designed for passengers instead of bombs.

The demonstrator is essentially a RC model. It measures 2 meters long and 3.2 meters wide, and has a surface area of around 2.25 square-meter.

Airbus said MAVERIC features “a disruptive aircraft design.” Well, we can’t see why it isn’t. As if its A380 hadn’t resulted enough economic investment at airport’s gates around the world, the MAVERIC is destined to do the same.

But why is the France aerospace company doing this? Apparently, this flying wing has the potential of reducing fuel consumption by up to 20 percent over the current single-aisle aircraft.

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In addition, this “blended wing body” will open up to new possibilities for propulsion system type and integration. Plus a versatile cabin for a completely new onboard passenger experience. Or at least, those are what Airbus envisioned.

Airbus expect the flight-test will continue until end of Q2 2020. There is, however, “no specific time line for entry-into-service,” according to Jean-Brice Dumont, EVP Engineering Airbus.

Airports around the world must be seeing the aircraft in horror.

All images courtesy of Airbus S.A.S..