Airbus unveils new airliner concept ‘Bird of Prey’

Airbus's 'Bird of Prey' concept

At the Royal International Air Tattoo in Fairford (19-21 July), Airbus announced its latest proof of concept – ‘Bird of Prey’ (BOP). True to its name, the BOP was designed to emulate the flight principles used by birds – such as the eagle – to fly.

BOP is capable of flying 80 passengers for up to 1,500 kms, while using 30-50% less fuel than current equivalents. Essentially, it is designed to serve as a regional, hybrid electric aircraft, much like Eviation’s Alice or Ampaire’s EEL.

The design is particularly unique, as Airbus has replaced the classic vertical tail of an aircraft with a bird-like split-tail. It also has four fans positioned above the carbon-fibre fuselage – which embraces a Barnes Wallis-inspired geodesic design.

Geodesic designs have been around since the first world war and, perhaps, the best-known WWII aircraft to use it was the Vickers Wellington light bomber designed by Wallis. He also designed the bouncing bombs used by 617 Squadron, the Dam Busters, in successful 1943 attacks on German dams.

Courtesy: BAE Systems

But Airbus does not intend for this proof of concept to be built. Its primary purpose is to “inspire the next generation of engineers to design aircraft that are significantly better from an environmental point of view,” said Martin Aston, senior manager at Airbus UK.

The BOP conceptual design is backed by the GREAT Britain campaign, the Royal Aeronautical Society, the Air League, the Institution of Engineering and the Technology and Aerospace Technology Institute.

Airbus has previously developed technologies – such as boundary layer control and adaptive structures – which imitate nature. And while this kind of biomimicry has been used before by the aerospace industry (and indeed other industries) at-large, he said:

“Conventional aircraft have a very rigid structure, unlike birds, which have a fully active airframe. They are also very good at using the atmosphere to fly. And we wanted to draw on this to design an airframe, which is what we you are seeing with the Bird of Prey.”