Research & Innovation

A success. On 11th February, thanks to the European Space Agency (ESA) prototype space ‘plane, called the "IXV" ( Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle ), measuring five metres (16,5 feet) long by two metres (6,5 feet) wide, Europe demonstrated that it is now capable of returning craft to Earth from space.
 

On the occasion of the 3rd European Conference on More Electric Aircraft being held in Toulouse (south west France), representatives of the sector presented their latest advances and challenges in the field; the key benefits of which are gains in terms of weight and cost.
 

On January 27th Safran inaugurated its new research and technology centre near Paris. Called Safran Tech, the division will promote synergies and eventually consolidate 300 researchers in three disciplines: systems and technologies, materials and components, and digital technologies.
 

When we first talked about it in 2012, it was still a prototype. Today, the Transition, is on the market. To acquire this flying car, developed by the American company Terrafugia, it will cost you $280,000, after paying a $10,000 refundable deposit, for the pleasure of adding your name to the waiting list. It was certified by the American Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) in July 2012.
 

Since our last report in 2011, Michel Aguilar’s project, Xplorair, the flying car of the future, has moved up a gear. A French industrial consortium has been created, with four patents, and the concept of the thermoreactor jet engine validated by the engine manufacturer Turbomeca and the Institute of Pprime research, having been established. Advances that allow the designer the possibility of foreseeing the maiden flight of a fullsize demonstrator in less than three years’ time.
 

Welcome to the home of the most powerful aircraft wind tunnel in the world. Situated in the French Alps, close to the French-Italian border at Modane, the French National aerospace research centre (Onera) has an exceptional test centre. Inside a steel tunnel two giant fans produce transonic winds of speeds up to Mach 1, enabling aircraft manufacturers to conduct aerodynamic testing on their development aircraft.
 

It is just a prototype for now, but by 2018, the "Phantom Swift" developed by Boeing could conceivably used by the American army. Darpa, the American government agency responsible for innovations in defense technology, has launched the beginning of a call for tenders for the creation of a VTOL aircraft, and Boeing is, for the moment, the best placed.