If a British aerospace company gets its way, you could one day have a chance to fly in a passenger plane where the windows are replaced by wraparound view screens that show you what’s outside the plane all around you:
A British aerospace company released pictures Sunday of its “windowless” plane concept that would make even the most fearless flyers very nervous. The Centre for Public Innovation (CPI) has an idea to replace those dark and dreary cabins with large, sweeping organic LED screens that could show a live video feed from outside.
The firm envisions the screens encompassing the whole cabin of the plane, except perhaps the floor. Besides showing video from the outside (which could induce vertigo or a baggage of other anxieties for nervous flyers), the screens might display movies, the Internet or even, if you can believe it, nothing.
CPI thinks the idea will take off with manufacturers within the next 10 years as companies look to build lighter jets. Airlines are demanding lighter planes that burn less fuel and save airlines money.
As it happens, those little portal windows are deceptively heavy. The plane’s fuselage needs to be strengthened to keep the windows from snapping in extreme temperatures brought on by the plane’s constantly changing altitude. CPI says that for every 1% reduction in weight, there’s a 0.75% fuel saving — a figure that adds up when tons of windows are removed.
“If you save weight, you save fuel,” CPI claims. “And less fuel means less CO2 emissions into the atmosphere and lower operational cost.”
Here’s a video explaining the concept:
So, who’s up for flying in a plane that makes it appear as if there’s nothing between you and the world outside?
