Turbulence suppression
The Austrian company Turbulence Solutions has introduced a technology for actively countering turbulence during aircraft flights. The measure is more than necessary, since climate change has already led to acceleration of winds in the atmosphere. The number of turbulence zones and their activity increased by 55%, so further air transportation is unlikely to be comfortable.
The idea is to move the air pressure drop sensors as far in front of the aircraft as possible so that the system has time to react to entering the turbulence zone before the flying vehicle itself is in it. For a light single-seat aircraft, 2.65 m long rods on each wing were suitable. Depending on the received signal, the automation activates the controls of the aircraft to compensate for the effects of turbulence.
Turbulence suppression
During experimental flights in 2021, the technology showed 62% reliability. When traveling at cruising speeds, the system managed to work in 0.1 seconds and compensate for vertical acceleration up to 30 m/s. Since then, the technology has been refined and today, according to its developers, it is able to smooth out 80% of all fluctuations. The economic aspect is much more important – with such equipment, pilots will be able to fly directly, without bypassing potentially dangerous areas. And without the risk of discomfort for passengers, as well as possible injuries. Savings on fuel alone will be from 10%, plus this technology can be adapted for use on drones. It is expected that a commercial version for light aircraft will appear in 2024, for UAVs in 2026, and for all aviation by 2030.
Alexander Martynenko