The connection between fuel economy and aircraft engineering

Scott Beale feels that he cannot stress enough just how important fuel economy is in the aviation industry. Over the years, engineers, researchers, and scientists have experimented, researched, and tried countless ways of creating fuel-efficient aircraft.

Image source: aviation.stackexchange.com

Jet fuel has been reported to be the leading source of energy used in the United States, as it takes up a little under half of the entire energy consumption. The amount of energy to come out of jet fuel in the U.S. is so staggering that the output of electricity, the second most-used energy source in the country, only amounts to less than half of that.

Researchers and engineers have looked to fuel efficiency in cars and other road vehicles to modify aircraft. Although there has been a bit of success in the area, jets still use a gallon of fuel for every half-to-quarter-mile, depending on the aircraft. To put things in perspective, Scott Beale mentions the current hybrid car which travels more or less 50 miles for every gallon of fuel.

Image source: airbus.com

While alternative sources of energy are still out of the question (no alternative energy source can come close to powering a Boeing 787), there are viable options that aircraft engineers are looking into. Biofuels is one of the leading alternatives, since not only is it good for airplane engines, biofuels are also great for the environment.

Aviation professionalScott Beale piloted the successful business turnaround of Aerodynamics, Inc., increasing the company’s profitability with new business and diversification efforts as its CEO from 2011 to 2015. For more aviation-related reads, visit this blog.