C-130 Chunks Up

How do you make the world's best selling military cargo aircraft, even better? Fatten her up! That's exactly what Lockheed Martin is considering with the C-130XL (should be XXL). This photo from Stephen Trimble's blog is the first known image of the new fat girl being designed to compete against the A400M and C-17B. The concept is still in the preliminary phases without an official go-ahead but it would include widening the current fuselage and supporting a new load of up to 65,000 lbs. What a pig!

Click on the photo for higher detail.

[The DEW Line]

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Oriens glider so green it makes Ed Begley Jr. seem evil

Somewhere out there Al Gore is clapping for the ultimate concept in green air transportation, the Oriens glider. This ultra energy-efficient design recently won Roland Cernat the Lucky Strike Junior Designer competition for it's environmentally friendly innovation. Designed to be carbon-neutral, made from recycled materials, and completely recyclable itself, photovoltaic cells on top of its wings would provide power to an electric motor and retractable propeller mounted in front of the transparent fuselage. The see-through body would be made of polycarbonate while the frame of the aircraft would be constructed from a lightweight flax bio-compound that is CO2 neutral. While emissions free is the goal, a small internal combustion engine in the back could be used for safety purposes as a hybrid. Of course the main mission for this sleek little fellow is to coast effortlessly through the air as a glider with its highly aerodynamic body, V-tail, and "bionic loop" winglets tipping out its long wings. When you're all done with the Oriens, be sure to put it in your recycle bin and place it at the curb on Monday.




(Inhabitat via Gizmodo)

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