Aircraft engines emit soot particles. These act as condensation nuclei for small supercooled water droplets, which immediately freeze into ice crystals and become visible as contrails in the sky. Credit: © DLR. All rights reserved

An international research team has successfully demonstrated that long-lasting contrails can be avoided by adjusting flight altitudes.

Changing flight altitudes avoids the formation of climate-damaging contrails

Boeing is working with NASA, DLR and United Airlines to test how sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) affects contrails and non-carbon-dioxide emissions and reduces the fuel's impact on the climate throughout its lifecycle. Boeing's second ecoDemonstrator Explorer, shown here, a 737-10 built for United Airlines, will fly on 100 percent SAF and conventional jet fuel in separate tanks and alternate fuels during the tests. Credit: Boeing

In a collaboration to strengthen sustainability in aviation, Boeing [NYSE: BA] is partnering with NASA and United Airlines for in-flight testing to measure how sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) affects contrails and non-carbon emissions, in addition to reducing the fuel's life cycle climate impact.

Boeing, NASA, United Airlines and DLR to test SAF benefits with air-to-air flights

HyBird is currently a high-wing aircraft with a large propeller at each wingtip and at both tips of the V-tail. The initial concept has now evolved into a remotely piloted, instrumented experimental vehicle with a maximum weight of 25 kilograms. Credit: DLR (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)

HyBird is a small, hybrid-electric aircraft concept. Its goal is to serve routes of less than 1000 kilometres and with low passenger volumes in a climate-compatible way. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) has now successfully conducted the first flight of a 1:4 scale demonstrator of HyBird at the National Experimental Test Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems in Cochstedt.

DLR conducts first flight of HyBird demonstrator

View of the Air­bus A321neo from the DLR Fal­con 20E. Credit: DLR (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)

Sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) significantly reduce the climate impact of aviation in terms of both its carbon footprint and other climate impact not related to carbon dioxide. In the future, the targeted use of SAFs in contrail regions can help to rapidly reduce the climate impact of air transport. Flight tests using aircraft powered by 100 percent SAF are to take place again in order to prepare for this transition.

Emissions and contrail study with 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel

Flow sim­u­la­tion of DLR’s IS­TAR re­search air­craft. Credit: DLR (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)

Decarbonisation of aviation relies on a combination of many incremental steps and outright technological breakthroughs. To succeed, both approaches need to exist inside a collaborative ecosystem. In this spirit, Airbus and two leading European research institutions, DLR and ONERA, are exploring how high-performance computing can improve our understanding of the relationship between aerodynamics and aircraft efficiency.

Aerodynamics and the art of aircraft design

The origin of Mars’ two moons, Phobos and Deimos, is still unclear. To unravel this mystery, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission is scheduled to launch in 2024.

Falk Dambowsky

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Changing flight altitudes avoids the formation of climate-damaging contrails

Boeing, NASA, United Airlines and DLR to test SAF benefits with air-to-air flights

DLR conducts first flight of HyBird demonstrator

Emissions and contrail study with 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel

Aerodynamics and the art of aircraft design

A rover for Mars' moon Phobos