Airbus Planning Transparent Planes 488
goG writes "European aircraft manufacturer Airbus has come up with the idea to build a passenger flight with a completely transparent fuselage. The central body of the aircraft will allow passengers to the see the stars above and city lights below. 'The planes of the future will offer an unparalleled, unobstructed view of the wonders of the five continents — where you will be able see the pyramids or the Eiffel Tower through the transparent floor of the aircraft,' Airbus said while unveiling the concept 'The Future By Airbus' earlier this year."
This would scare the hell out of me (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:This would scare the hell out of me (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm with you, man. I'm not afraid of heights, but the idea of experiencing a steep banking turn with a transparent fuselage makes fairly nauseous.
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I doubt very much I would like to see through the hull during storms or particularly dicey landings.
Re:This would scare the hell out of me (Score:5, Funny)
the idea of experiencing a steep banking turn with a transparent fuselage makes fairly nauseous.
Don't worry it sounds like it's a self correcting problem...
Painted ransparent planes (Score:5, Insightful)
Everyone here seems to be seeing only the increased view a transparent fuselage would provide. There may be another benefit: less weak points. Every time you make a hole in your fuselage, such as for a window, you are increasing the number of potential weak points. Imagine now the whole fuselage being one transparent piece, you reduce this problem. Anywhere you don't want people seeing out can simply be painted over.
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How about replacing the tiny windows with decent cameras and screens?
Some years ago, one airline my parents flew on had a camera looking forwards and down from the nose of the plane. You could get a (better than?) pilot's view of the take-off and landing.
Re:This would scare the hell out of me (Score:4, Interesting)
That gives me e great idea (Score:3, Funny)
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Uh, have you SEEN most nudists and/or airline passengers? No thanks!
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Carefully feel above and below your eyes. Feel those flaps of skin? They're called eyelids. You can close them whenver you want to reduce the level of light that enters your eyes. Try it now. Don't use your fingers, they com
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You're ignoring issues with the weight of glass or the strength of polycarbonate.
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Because, according to TFA, these new planes will be made of a transparent ceramic. Obviously the Airbus designers are high on something more prosaic. Otherwise they would have realized that the obvious next step is transparent aluminum.
Niven not Star Trek (Score:3, Informative)
Re:This would scare the hell out of me (Score:5, Interesting)
I have a fear of falling (and the more likely to my brain falling is the more the fear kicks in), glass or transparent anything that I'd stand, sit, or other hope to hell is going to support me would give me a full blown panic attack...
Btw lots of people tell me it's just a fear of heights, except I'm fine on high things that seem solid and unlikely to fall... A cabin on the top of a 'mountain', won't bother me. A thin metal bar on the edge of a bridge 200 feet overlooking the ground (or water) makes me nervous. The transparent flooring on the upper level of a skyscrapper I once visited was another to have me curled up on the floor...
Re:This would scare the hell out of me (Score:5, Funny)
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Join the club. I'm fine with flying, but I freak out at steep drops that I'm "connected" to. My daughters thought it was hilarious when I lost it at the Grand Canyon, and I was nervous all throughout dinner when we ate at the top of the Stratosphere (not my choice).
Given that I almost panicked on the Palm Springs aerial tramway, I suspect that I'd go into full-blown panic mode on a plane that did that.
Airbus may be able to make a plane like this. I doubt that they'll sell many to commercial airlines, du
Re:This would scare the hell out of me (Score:4, Funny)
Airbus may be able to make a plane like this. I doubt that they'll sell many to commercial airlines, due to liability concerns over people with acrophobia. There may be a niche market for sightseeing etc...
I don't know. It might be great for in-flight sales of alcohol and valium like drugs.
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Yeah, that's a better way of phrasing it. Edges.
I'm fine inside a skyscraper with a standard vertical window. If it tilts out so that I feel like I'm leaning over the edge, that's the trigger.
At the G.C., though, i couldn't get within 20 feet of the edge where the observation point was. How that Native American tribe gets people to do the Skywalk thing, I have no idea.
Re:This would scare the hell out of me (Score:5, Funny)
I have a fear of falling (and the more likely to my brain falling is the more the fear kicks in), glass or transparent anything that I'd stand, sit, or other hope to hell is going to support me would give me a full blown panic attack...
Truth be told, it scares us too. The main reason we're developing these airplanes is for the youtube videos of people falling asleep on the planes, waking up, looking at the floor, and freaking out.
sincerely,
Airbus
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Not necessarily.
your brain works in mysterious ways.
There is an interesting phenomenon that I dont recall the name for. basically the reason you freak in a skyscraper but not in a plane is the fact that there is nothing in your view to "connect" you to the ground.
when you are in a skyscraper, your brain sees the line of the building to the ground, makes the connection and says "F***! I'm high up!".
In an aircraft, there isn nothing for your brain to connect the plane to the ground, so you are less prone to t
Re:This would scare the hell out of me (Score:4)
Don't worry. Last time I checked luggage and cargo was not transparent, planes required wiring etc. etc. This is just ill thought out marketing BS.
good for competition (Score:5, Funny)
In a joint statement, the chief executives of British Rail, Société Nationale des Chemins de Français, Deutsche Bahn, Österreichische Bundesbahnen, Ferrovie dello Stato, Nederlandse Spoorwegen, Schweizerische Bundesbahnen, Renfe Operadora, Norges Statsbaner, and several other European rail companies applauded the idea, saying it would help to increase competition in the market for European travel.
I for one (Score:5, Insightful)
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A thousand other replies followed yours, with every variation of Wonder Woman, transparent cargo, wiring and bathrooms. Congrats on being fastest, or first to get an Insightful mod.
Personally, I think that temperature regulation and solar dazzle will be a lot harder problem. Already, flying north or south near sunset can have a noticeable impact on cabin temperatures, and everyone slides the blinds closed on the sunward side. What if you don't have those options? You're going to be the ant in the jar, l
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And you all missed this part FTFA.
"walls that become see-through at the touch of a button"
Sounds a lot like those windows you can make transparent or tinted at the push of a button.
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Maybe not, but that's not the point. With a non-transparent wall you can't see shit... except the wall. ANYTHING beats starting at the wall/floor/etc. Even if it's just a lot of water, it's still better than staring at the wall.
Re:I for one (Score:4, Interesting)
Agreed.
Try going up in a hot-air balloon some time. Being able to see all around you, most of the way below, and a good portion of above -- all at once -- from even a few hundred feet off the ground is really spectacular. I'd expect that at airliner altitudes, it would be even more so. Not as much detail visible on the ground, of course, but the scale of the view would be worth it.
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The US already has a transparent UAV [wikimedia.org] in development.
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The vomit colored and sticky floor soon after take off is going to be a bit of a problem too.
Since the fuselage is built out of imaginary stuff (Score:5, Insightful)
...we can posit imaginary transparent stuff for the wire, hoses, and conduit as well. We can even imagine that we can tailor its refractive index so that it truly appears "invisible", not just "clear".
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Welcome on board Budget Air's glass glider. As is always the case on Budget Air, bathroom use is completely complimentary. Curtains may be purchased from any flight attendant.
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There are several Russian companies that suck even more. After them... Well, there aren't a lot of companies putting really new designs in the air, lot like there were 30 years ago when just the US manufacturers included Boeing, McDonnell-Douglas, and Lockheed. Europe had its own set, and the Soviets had a few more. Kind of a shame that the competition isn't like that anymore.
I wonder... (Score:5, Insightful)
Is it perchance piloted by Amazonian princesses? If so I'm in
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Uh, this is embarrassing, actually, I'm in the bathroom.
Lawsuit! I Smell Lawsuit! (Score:2)
Hey Airbus, landshark representing Detective Comic is on the phone. They want to discuss your apparent lack of proper licensing...
meh.. (Score:2)
Cue the transparent aluminum jokes (Score:2)
Commence Star Trek references in 3... 2... 1...
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> Commence Star Trek references in 3... 2... 1...
How quaint.
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Now that airlines are forcing larger passengers to buy double seats, all I can say is:
"There be whales here!"
it would be awesome, but impossible (Score:3, Insightful)
How can you make all of the airplane transparent? It's probably not possible with most of it at all, given how many wires, pipes, tubes, insulation, bolts and nuts there are there.
I would love to fly a fully transparent plane though, completely transparent, that would be super awesome!
Except that there would be other passengers there to spoil the view, and fuel. That would be weird.
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Yeah, there might be other passengers, but at least everyone else could enjoy it when a couple joins the mile high club.
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Given the size of an average American, do you really want to see any of that?
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I may not want to see it, but Rule 34 would imply that someone does.
Besides, there are international flights.
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And more importantly, not how, but why?
I am sure some people would love it on landing and takeoff, but I see a lot of inconvenience.
I hate heights, and I like to be able to nap in the dark on some of those long daytime flights, which arrive in the morning.
Nah, this will be a prototype, the real thing will only have an observation deck :)
Transparent luggage? (Score:2, Funny)
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I was thinking the carpet might also be a problem too.
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You fool! We are the baggage! The luggage will be in the passenger compartment. Now down you go!
New requirements (Score:2)
In the future, you'll no longer be able to check any luggage or have carryons. Also, you will fly naked on the transparent plane. Enjoy!
I hope... (Score:2, Funny)
That will rule for the scared of heights folk. (Score:2)
Oh look 30,000 feet of nothingness below me under this transparent floor.
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They'll probably just fly on the 10-times-cheaper regular planes.
Sounds boring as hell (Score:2)
Any flight over the Atlantic will be a nice view of the ocean for 7 or so hours.
If you can see around the luggage. How about just making it cheaper and more comfortable. I honestly would take a flight that took 30% longer if it was just more comfortable.
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Cheaper?! Air fares haven't gone up since the 80s...(yet the price of fuel has, exponentially...)
And if you want comfortable, go fly on Singapore or Emirates.
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Sadly they do not service the routes I use most often. You are right though that avoiding US airlines is the way to go.
By cheaper I mean, using modern technology and perhaps flying slower we should be able to use less fuel and perhaps lower costs. I realize the prices have not risen since then, but pretty much everything else has gotten cheaper.
Or what will actually happen. (Score:5, Insightful)
Transparent ceramic planes using super-expensive future technology that will take years and years to actually make work! It'll be awesome! You'll be able to see through the plane! Except for the fuel, seats, luggage compartments, probably the floor, A/C ducting, electrical conduit, the bulkhead separating you from the pilot, the bathrooms in the back...
Or I guess we could just make the windows a little bigger.
Transparent (Score:5, Insightful)
Clear hydraulic fluid in clear lines; transparent aluminum [slashdot.org] wiring in nylon insulation. What a concept!
See Through Floor? (Score:2)
Yeah, somehow I don't think having the ability to look down and see your feet dangling over the earth from 50,000 feet up will make people enjoy flying more....
This begs the question... (Score:2)
Given current airline trends - if we're all crammed together only a few inches apart, will we actually be able to see anything except the stars above? We'll be lucky to see anything but other peoples' feet.
screw zero fatality, lets just make them pretty (Score:2)
Awesome (Score:2, Funny)
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On the other hand, I guess claustrophobics will like it.
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You missed the extra special terror for the agoraphobics who are already panicky about traveling in the first place: they're not so limited as the acrophobics, they freak out over all three dimensions.
A cheaper solution (Score:2)
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Even better, do something like google sky on android phones. As you move the screen it shows you what is outside the plane so you can just see what you want.
Probability zero (Score:2, Interesting)
H. Sapiens has a built in fear of heights. Take a six month old kid and try to get him to crawl over a pane of glass suspended at a meter's altitude - no go. It's been tested, after reaching a certain age he won't do it. He has figured out the dangers of the Z coordinate.
Now stuff a hundred people on a plane and repeat the experiment. You'll have people screaming in terror as they fight to reach the exits. However much you rationalize it, fear of heights is built in into the average H. Sapiens brain.
B.S. detector fodder (Score:5, Insightful)
Oh come on, no way is this going to happen or work. It's not like the plane only holds the passenger compartment, and I can't see going to the effort to give the passengers a good view of the luggage, extra cargo, and distressed pets, which will all block the view, as well as letting the passengers see the condition of the wiring, landing gear and other controls. And even if the airlines really wanted to do this and found a way for all of the extra stuff to not block the view, the thickness of the curved hull would so drastically distort the view that it would not be worth doing.
It would be far simpler with today's technology to give everyone individual steerable, zoomable access to video cameras. I don't expect that to happen, and I don't believe that Airbus will ever build Wonder Woman's plane, the passenger version.
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Planes already have under-body forward-view video cameras that you can see on your personal seatback display. I had one on a flight from NYC to Hong Kong (over the north pole), and I got to look at solid white clouds for 15 hours, except for takeoff and landing - he
Luckily (Score:2)
Should offer a good view of stars (Score:2)
On a couple of flights, I've tried to catch a glimpse of the stars through the window--far above city lights, with less atmosphere to look through, I'd think it'd be a pretty good view. The placement of the window makes it very difficult to look "up", however--not to mention the blinking light on the wing and all the interior lights preventing any sort of dark adaptation.
A plane with a transparent fuselage should solve two of these problems by permitting a line of sight that doesn't require craning your ne
more likely an "AAAAUUUGGHHHHH!" plane (Score:2)
nothing like looking down on takeoff, folks, to make you wonder what you're up to.
except maybe seeing the runway lights coming at ya from 50 feet.
or watching a tire disintegrate on the landing gear.
"for your pleasure, we offer earphones for $5, soft drinks for $2, pillows for $4, and clock-stopping horse-pill tranquilizers for $25. please don't mob the stewards as they make their way down the mffff THUMP THUMP GIMME THAT!"
Anyone planning planes with adequate seat room? (Score:2)
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As a man who is about those dimensions I can tell you that airline seats are not comfortable for me either.
Wonder Woman will not be happy (Score:2)
if this becomes common.
Deja vu all over again... (Score:4, Insightful)
I remember the concepts for the 747... Piano lounge upstairs with a bar. Private cabins. Luxurious accomodations.
Didn't take long for the 747 to become a large cattle car. Any bets on how long the luxury will last?
Re:Deja vu all over again... (Score:4, Insightful)
How much were you prepared to pay for that?
How important is price in your choice of airline?
Better serve some Quaaludes (Score:2)
To me this sounds awesome, a super wonder-womanish invisible plane streaking through the sky where you can watch the world below and the sky above.
For those already nervous about air travel, it sounds like a recipe for a Grade A Freakout. So if they do extend the small portal you can look through currently, then I hope they provide some way to block it off too...
Not to mention, if you've even been inside of a plane on a hot day with the sun coming in - even the small windows they have add a huge amount of
Underpants salesman (Score:5, Funny)
Sell underpants to passengers who freak out when they can see the ground 30,000 feet directly below them.
Clearly, ( :-D ) , they haven't a clue (Score:3, Informative)
Toronto's CN Tower has a glass floor, about a 1/4 mile above street level and there are many, many people who can't muster the nerve to walk out on it.
I can only imagine how relaxing it'll be for Joe Sixpack to have an unrestricted view of a flock of geese flying into the engine before all goes hurtling to that most
welcoming of places we call Terra Firma.
Not to mention just how much more gruesome plane crashes will be since anyone within visual range will have a lovely view of the innards, both the planes and the
dead or dying passengers.
Good plan, Mr Airbus Man.
European Heaven and Hell (Score:5, Funny)
Airbus engineers once again prove the old adage about European heaven and hell.
In European heaven, the British are the police, the French are the cooks, the Germans are the engineers, the Italians are the lovers and the Swiss run the government.
In European hell, the British are the cooks, the French are the engineers, the Germans are the police, the Italians run the government, and the Swiss are the lovers.
You won't see anything anyway (Score:4, Interesting)
What do you want to see at the bottom? Boxes and boxes and more boxes ... and on the top. cables, cables and more cables. See-through-fuselage-my-ass I say.
I see this more a too early 1st April joke ... Unless they magically add some lights, call buttons, etc and make the floor where the seats are connected and the boxes and the boxes contents (aka luggage) transparent there won't be anything more to see anyway.
Glare...? (Score:3, Insightful)
I often have to take sunglasses on board during daytime flights -- the bright sunlight gives me a cracking headache, even with just the small windows. Increasing the light reaching the interior isn't going to make that any better...
HAL.
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Maybe whole-plane parachutes? I'd take that before a transparent one any day.
They exist; they're just so heavy and so unlikely to be useful that no-one is willing to take the performance hit for installing such a system on an airliner. If I remember correctly, the proposed system I saw some years ago for a 747 required 14 large parachutes spread around the plane.
Plus you're more likely to scare people off by doing so than gain new passengers; who wants to fly on an airline which is so scared of their planes crashing that they fit parachutes to them?
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Plus you're more likely to scare people off by doing so than gain new passengers; who wants to fly on an airline which is so scared of their planes crashing that they fit parachutes to them?
Right, because knowing that my airline provider DENIES their engineering problems, rather than providing backup systems, is what I really want.
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The average consumer would stand all the way on a 4 hour flight if it saved them $100.
The average consumer would fly on a plane serviced and piloted by trained monkeys if it were $200 cheaper.
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Plus you're more likely to scare people off by doing so than gain new passengers; who wants to fly on an airline which is so scared of their planes crashing that they fit parachutes to them?
Me.
Bit of a silly argument, that. It's like asking who wants to use a mode of transport that's so scared of their planes crashing that they use air traffic control, radar, preventive maintenance, life jackets, safety briefings before every flight, and a host of other safety measures. Passengers most likely won't even know the chutes are there, they'll be made far more aware of the life jackets and oxygen masks.
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Well, the next concept is for a double decker, with flight attendants wearing miniskirts and no panties. Lower deck seats cost double.
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Oh and did i mention that the flight attendants are all male?
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Depends on the demographic you want to attract.
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This is highly unlikely to actually happen. As bobjakiewicz noted, it would greatly increase the number of people suffering from motion sickness and other related problems.
Huh? I thought motion sickness was caused by being moved while deprived of the visual cue of what's causing the motion, hence sea sickness when you're in the cabin but not feeling so bad once you go out on deck and look at the horizon. Alternatively, you might not be moving at all but you might be getting visual cues that make you think you are, and when your ears don't pick up on the motion that they're expecting based on what the eyes are saying, you get nauseous, like I used to get when looking at the ov
Re:OMG YES! (Score:5, Funny)
"see the pyramids or the Eiffel Tower through the transparent floor of the aircraft"
Vomit is transparent?
Re:OMG YES! (Score:4, Funny)
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Puppeteer should be capitalized, as it is a proper noun in this context- it's not some puppeteers, it's the Peirson's Puppeteers that are complaining.
(And usig an a Android tablet to post with sucks.)
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That's all right. If they confront me about it, I'll just yell "boo" and we won't see them again for a century...
General Products (Score:5, Funny)
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