The high-lift wing configuration of SE Aeronautic’s new SE200 also gives it short takeoff and landing potential.
Airliners haven’t traditionally been a lightning rod for innovation. Commercial wide-body planes haven’t changed all that much over the last few decades. But amid an industrywide push to reduce carbon emissions, a bonkers new jumbo jet concept is aiming to change that.
SE Aeronautic’s new SE200 prototype takes a disruptive approach to every metric in ultra-wide-body aircraft design and performance. The tri-wing design, with a double tail fin and two engines mounted to the rear, will be able to accommodate 264 passengers, but will consume 70 percent less fuel than a similar-sized jet.
It’s projected range of 10,500 miles, with a top speed of Mach .90 (690.5 mph), is also greater than other jets in its class. The high-lift wing design gives the SE200 short takeoff and landing potential, thus increasing the number of smaller airports it could access.
Some of its secrets: Fuel storage will no longer take place in the wings, so the designers made them thinner and more aerodynamic. Instead, the fuel is stored on a bladder on top of the fuselage, part of the aircraft’s singular design.