A window into aviation future

Excusing the obvious response from aviophobiacs, what leaves you feeling grounded while the plane you’re travelling on hurtles skywards on take-off?

From experience, I know all about the tedium of the in-flight magazine and the torture of the aisle seat.

Even the supposed Hollywood blockbusters playing on repeat aren’t enough to alleviate the boredom; a ten-hour flight showing the challenging tale of Ghost Rider Johnny Blaze’s run in with the Devil springs immediately to mind.

But what if you get that window perch, at least then you’ve got something to look at.

Or have you?

Hours of flying can pass by without so much a speck of interest.

However, that could all be about to change thanks to proposals rooted right here in the region.

The Centre for Process Innovation, which has bases in Wilton, near, Redcar, and Sedgefield, County Durham, is working on a concept for windowless planes.

In the days of greater scrutiny on emissions, the plans focus on saving aviation weight by removing windows and replacing them with a full panoramic view of the world below.

CPI scientists and engineers are developing ultra-flexible, high-definition displays capable of lining interior walls of cabins to display 360-degree live footage from cameras around the plane.

Bosses also say the technique, described as digital wallpaper, could allow passengers to personalise their viewpoint by interchanging between different light settings and a plethora of images, as well as delivering in-flight entertainment.

It’s known as organic light emitting diode (oled) technology, which, put simply, is thin, bendable and lightweight displays screens moulded around the fuselage and surfaces, such as seatbacks, to create more space and reduce weight.

Matthew Herbert, CPI’s marketing manager, said oleds have tremendous potential to change the environment around us.

He points to Polyphotonix, which has used CPI labs at Sedgefield’s NetPark, and used oleds to create a revolutionary sleep mask capable of transforming eye disease treatment in diabetes sufferers.

However, don’t expect next year’s summer break to start in an aircraft filled with a kaleidoscope of colours and vivid imagery.

If anything, it’s more likely celebrities and high-powered business executives will be the first to sample it.

Mr Herbert says the oled technology will be ready in ten years, but, due to aviation design cycles, its potential to be available for public use could be at least double that timeframe.

He said: “The plane is one of the applications for the technology and we’re doing it in the North-East.

“It’s still a concept and there isn’t a plane to see, but it has created a lot of debate.

“The reality is that it could come earlier in private jets.

“Those have a limited number of passengers, say three or four, and the concept of the changing screens would allow them to carry out things like video conferencing.

“The technology that we are working on is probably going to be at a scale for mass manufacturing, but it will be between about ten years until all of the technology is there.

“It could be 20 or 30 years before you see it on a plane.”

It may be a concept at this stage, but to underestimate CPI’s prowess and intentions would be foolhardy.

It is part of the UK’s cross-party supported High Value Manufacturing Catapult, which aims to stimulate growth in manufacturing and double the sector’s contribution to UK GDP.

Within that, the organisation is busily building a major development in Darlington to research healthcare innovation.

Its £38m National Biologics Manufacturing Centre, in the town’s Central Park, will open in 2015 to focus on potentially life-saving cures and vaccines, with a second £20m base, which bosses say will be the the first of its type in Europe, testing and making technology to deliver medicines for specific diseases and patient cases.

That building will support up to 100 construction jobs and create 20 roles when it opens in 2017.

Mr Herbert said its aviation project was a two-pronged approach.

While passengers are idling away the flight with entertainment and changing vistas at the touch of a button, airlines would be carrying less weight, thus saving on fuel, which could lower fares.

He said: “We wanted to spark a conversation among key players in the aerospace industry.

“However, in real terms, the windowless aircraft will achieve two things.

“Large colourful and interactive displays will transform the experience for people on commercial flights by providing a better visual experience for everyone in the cabin, including those in the aisle seats.

“You could have a situation where displays could allow passengers to look at images from a library of views or from mobile devices, and it could also work as an informational tool.

“It could be like a built-in Wikipedia function where you could find out exactly what it is you’re looking at or flying over.

“You could be travelling over the Himalayas and have access to all the information you need about them; it could be like a documentary.

“Secondly, aeroplane windows require additional mechanical components in the fuselage to strengthen its structure.

“Removing the windows, like a cargo plane, will significantly reduce the weight of the aircraft, saving fuel and therefore reducing operational costs.

“About 80 per cent of the weight of a fully loaded commercial airliner is the aircraft itself and its fuel.

“For every one per cent reduction in this weight, the estimated fuel saving is 0.75 per cent.

If you save weight, you save fuel.

“Less fuel consumption means lower CO2 emissions into the atmosphere and lower operational costs, which in turn will result in reduced airfares.”

It sounds like a perfect solution; all of the travel with an added twist.

We get our own little personal space complete with unique views, multimedia functions and not a hint of Ghost Rider.