Sometimes I think that hydraulics is a dirty word to airline executives. It’s as though some of them consider the technology as dirty, leaky and something they wish they could simply rid their passenger airplanes of. An old boss of mine once commented that a plane could hit a structure, tearing part of a wing off, causing hydraulic fluid to spew from the crippled jet which would eventually crash—and the next morning, the newspapers would proclaim, “Hydraulics causes plane crash!” It’s ridiculous, but probably true.
So it was pretty neat to read about the new 777X that Boeing recently unveiled. The company’s update to the world’s largest twin-engine jet will try to poise the plane as more comparable to the huge four-engine widebodies on the market, the Boeing 747 and the Airbus A380. Boeing is maximizing the 777’s passenger and freight capabilities while extending its range to well more than 9000 nautical miles. All while being cheaper to operate.
How do they achieve all of this? Boeing plans to use powerful new engines, composite carbon-fiber wing structures, and a much larger wingspan. The larger wing area will allow the plane to use less thrust while still carrying heavier loads.
Longer wingspans—like the 777X’s planned 71-meter figure—start to get in trouble with airports, which have very specific requirements for what is acceptable. Gates can only accommodate certain sized airliners, and the 777X would simply be too wide to use without taking up two gates at a time.
And that’s where hydraulics comes to the rescue. Boeing plans to use hydraulic actuators to fold up the wingtips after landing, allowing the plane to squeeze into current airport gates without a problem. Boeing originally proposed—and was awarded a patent for—the idea almost 20 years ago when it originally designed the 777. But I think this detail will be so distinctive that consumers will grow to love it—along the lines of the Concorde’s dipping nose and the 747’s distinctive hump.
The plane is expected to debut by the end of the decade. More details on this exciting new hydraulics application to come …
[…] we’re back to the folding wing concept, this time with hydraulics providing the Power2Fold. Check out this article from Paul Heney at Design World. It’s a great example of using hydraulics to enhance performance in an area where, as Paul points […]