A speedboat, submarine and airplane wrapped in one

Outfitted with a 1500cc engine, a watertight cockpit and six dolphin-like fins, the Innespace Seabreacher redefines personal watercraft. The 17-foot vessel can reach 50 mph on flat water, cruise beneath the surface, and launch 18 feet into the air. It’s also got an iPod-compatible sound system and a digital periscope. Summer may never be the same.

Check out this video of the Seabreacher X in action:

Tail Fin

The Seabreacher’s top rear fin acts like a car spoiler. When the craft is underwater, aiming its water jet toward the tail fin produces drag that pushes the craft’s rear downward and the nose upward, launching the vessel out of the water.

Water Jet

A single jet controls propulsion and steering. Drivers aim it with two foot pedals in the cockpit. Pointing the stream left or right initiates a turn; directing it down pops the tail up and aims the craft’s nose down for a dive.

Engine

The 260-horsepower gas engine–similar to a Jet Ski’s–generates speeds of 50 mph on the surface and 25 mph beneath. Air intake at the dorsal fin lets the craft cruise underwater while getting oxygen to the engine.

Side Fins

Two manually controlled side fins add maneuverability. Tilting the fins forward sucks the vessel deeper into the water; tilting them backward helps it rise. One forward and one back forces the craft to roll onto its side underwater or on the surface.

Cockpit

The two-seat, pneumatically sealed cockpit is outfitted with a GPS, an iPod dock and speakers. LCD screens display live footage taken from a camera mounted on the dorsal fin, which acts like a digital periscope.

Get It: Innespace Seabreacher X, From $81,000; Innespace

Airline Cabins in 2050 The "vitalizing" cabin

Airbus has seen the future, and it’s spacious, sunlit and full of interactive screens. Oh, and cocktails will be served in the virtual bar, assuming someone isn’t playing 18 holes in there.

After revealing its larger vision of what aviation hardware will offer us in 2050 at last year’s Paris Air Show–reduced emissions, lower fuel consumption, reductions in noise and increases in speed–the company has turned its attention toward the passenger experience, offering a sneak peak of the future via the video below.

What does the future have in store? Well, assuming populations begin growing less obese and the economics of packing as many people on a flight as possible are discarded (in the future, air travel–like society–will know no class), the future is much more comfortable.

When flights are at less than full capacity, unneeded seats at the rear of the plane will collapse and all seats will redistribute themselves to offer everyone an equitable boost in legroom. These seats will also morph to fit passengers’ bodies.

Those who need something more than a spacious, morphing seat in steerage will be free to join others in the interaction area, which can be anything from an interactive map room to a virtual golf course to a conference room or bar/lounge, depending on what passengers require. And a “revitalizing zone” in the nose of the aircraft offers panoramic views of the Earth below while re-energizing travelers with “vitamin and antioxidant enriched air, mood lighting, aromatherapy and acupressure treatments.” Right.

But perhaps the most easily digestible part of this vision is the structure of the aircraft itself, which taps a largely-hollow, lightweight bionic structure that mimics the bones in birds and could allow for the kind of transparent canopy pictured above. Airbus isn’t sure what it would be made of yet, but it could be 3-D printed–a technology that we know Airbus’s parent firm EADS is investing heavily in.

The first JetLev R200 jetpacks are set to hit the water, and while it won’t let you beat traffic on your daily commute – unless your home and workplace are conveniently located along the same body of water – it does look like a whole lot of fun.

Unlike self-contained jetpack designs, such as the famous Bell Rocket Belt and the ducted-fan-driven Martin Jetpack, Jetlev has managed to keep the weight and bulk of the actual jetpack to a minimum by shifting the propulsion engine, fuel and related systems to a small autonomous boat that is tethered to the jetpack and follows the pilot around.

Not only does this design reduce the size and weight of the jetpack to greatly improve the thrust-to-weight ratio, but it also allows water supplied via the tethered supply hose to act as the jet propulsion medium. The boat unit delivers low pressure, high flow water through a 33 ft (10 m) hose to the jetpack where thrust is generated by forcing the water through the nozzles located on either side of jetpack, which the company says is much more effective than using gas as the propulsion medium.

Although the Jetlev can generate upwards of 500 lbf (2,220 N) of thrust from its four stroke 250 hp engine, the unit has been limited to a maximum thrust of 430 lbf (1,900 N). This allows the Jetlev to propel a 150 lb (68 kg) pilot to speeds of up to 22 mph (35 km/h) at heights of up to 28 ft (8.5 m) – although the unit can accommodate pilots from 4.9 to 6.5 ft (1.5 – 2 m) in height and weighing from 88 to 330 lb (40 – 150 kg). With a fuel capacity of 26 US gal (100 liters), pilots will be able to enjoy the views for about one hour at full throttle, or for around two to three hours at cruising speed.

Intended as a recreational device with holiday resorts the target market, designers say the Jetlev is as safe and easy to fly as possible. The first obvious safety feature is the limitation of using the device over water, which will provide a much softer landing than solid ground if something goes wrong. Other safety features include a 5-point quick-release harness, protective backrest and head support and inherent flotation to ensure you don’t sink like a rock while still in the drink.

Jetlev Technologies says most people will be able to learn to fly solo with just a few minutes of in-water instruction thanks to a simple fly-by-wire digital throttle flight control system. Thrust is controlled with a twist of the grip, while moving the control arms up and down changes the angle of the nozzles to allocate thrust for lift and propulsion in forward, neutral or reverse. Differential nozzle angles also allow for yaw turns, while shifting weight from side to side allows the pilot to turn.

The Jetlev is designed for both fresh and salt water use with all exposed metal pieces made of either stainless steel or hard coat anodized aluminum with Teflon coating to protect against corrosion and abrasion. The jetpack itself measures 38.25"H x 35"W x 21.25-24.25"L (97 cm H x 89 cm W x 54-62 cm L) and weighs around 30 lbs (14 kg) when dry, while the tethered boat unit measures 127 in (323 cm) long and 48 in (121 cm) wide at its widest point.

The 2011 R200 model Jetlev-Flyer retails for US$99,500 with Jetlev Technologies planning to produce 70 units for delivery to North and South America, Caribbean, Asia-Pacific, and South Africa markets between May and July 2011. The company then plans to up production to expand to other markets later this year, starting with Mexico, the Bahamas and Caribbean regions, before moving into Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina, and selected other Central America and Asia Pacific markets late in 2011. The company is taking orders now.

Anyone who has taken a long haul flight will know that getting some shut eye during the flight can be a bit of a challenge at the best of times. Dealing with crying babies or restless children is only compounded by being crammed into seats that become more and more uncomfortable as the hours go by. Earlier this year we looked at the efforts of a number of airlines to make future air travel a more comfortable experience, including Air New Zealand’s "cuddle class" which features an Economy Skycouch. The new seat designs are now available in the airline’s new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, with some of the first passengers to take advantage those on the aircraft’s inaugural flight from Los Angeles to London.

As well as the Economy Skycouch, Air New Zealand’s 777-300ER’s also offer lie-flat seating with thicker memory foam mattresses and full size pillows in its Business Premier class, while a Spaceseat is designed to provide unmatched legroom in Premium Economy. Air New Zealand covers a number of long haul routes, including non-stop flights from San Francisco, Los Angeles, Honolulu and Vancouver to New Zealand, as well as Los Angeles to the Cook Islands. The airline also flies non-stop from Los Angeles to London and London to Hong Kong. However, the "cuddle class" seats will initially only be available on flights between Los Angeles and Auckland or London. Whether the redesigned seats lead to a growth in the numbers of people joining the mile high club remains to be seen.

Air New Zealand is now taking bookings for flights with the new seating options departing from this month.

German company PC-Aero is trying to win NASA’s CAFE Green Flight Challenge, and Saturday they took a big step toward doing just that. The company’s Elektra One aircraft, designed by PC-Aero’s founder and president Calin Gologan, made its successful first flight. But this one-seater isn’t your average single-prop. Elektra One flies on electricity alone.

The Green Flight Challenge seeks a demo aircraft that can fly 200 miles in less than two hours on the energy equivalent of less than one gallon of fuel per person. Elektra One didn’t push the envelope that far just yet–the maiden flight hit a ceiling just above 1600 feet and lasted just 30 minutes, burning just half the 6 kWh stored up in its batteries. But the fact that the lightweight aircraft was able to comfortably circle the airfield for half an hour– more or less silently, we might add–is nothing short of impressive.

And the timing for such a flight couldn’t be better. A study released Tuesday claims that airplane contrails–those long, white condensation trails jets leave in the sky–may warm the planet more on the average day than all of the carbon emissions spewed from airplanes in the history of modern aviation.

The carbon lingers longer of course–the contrails and any heat-trapping cirrus clouds they cause dissipate in hours or days, while the carbon remains for decades–but still, that’s a lot heat being trapped on any given day. Electric planes, as you may have surmised, wouldn’t contribute to warming on either front. See Elektra One take flight in the video below.

The Zero S electric supermotard

K-MAX unmanned helicopter sets payload record

The Unmanned K-MAX helicopter being developed by Kaman Corporation and Lockheed Martin has further demonstrated the potential of this type of aircraft in the field by completing a list of airdrop firsts. The milestones in payload weight and altitude were reached during a recent series of tests at the Army’s Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona where the KMAX UAS made guided airdrops via sling load at an altitude of 10,000 ft above sea level including a payload of 4,400 lbs.

The K-MAX unmanned aircraft system (UAS) is based on Kaman’s single-seat vertical-lift helicopter which was certified in 1994. The design has no tail rotor, instead using twin counter-rotating, intermeshing main rotors. The advantage of this approach is that without a tail rotor drive system, all engine power is directed to the main rotors to maximize lift. The piloted K-Max can more than its own 6,000 pound weight.

The single seat has been retained for the unmanned version and Lockheed Martin says it will remain "optionally piloted" to give it the flexibility of performing the occasional manned mission. Having a pilot onboard also its advantages for testing of the autonomous control system.

The Unmanned K-MAX airdropped 16 payloads during the recent tests. In addition to the milestones in payload weight and altitude, the aircraft also achieved the first airdrop of four guided Joint Precision Aerial Delivery Systems (JPADS) from a sling load, the first helicopter sling load airdrop for the High Altitude Low Opening (HALO) parachute system and a demonstration of non-line-of-sight re-targeting using JPADS.

The Unmanned K-MAX is being developed for battlefield cargo resupply with the goal of removing the need for ground convoys which require large numbers of troops to support them.

"Ten years from now there will be fleets of fully-autonomous cargo aircraft operating probably worldwide," says Garf Cooper, Flight test director for the Unmanned K-MAX program.

The following video from Lockheed Martin provides an overview of the K-MAX UAS:

Eurocopter is reporting a new breakthrough in the test flight program for its X3 high-speed, long-range Hybrid Helicopter demonstrator. The aircraft is equipped with two turboshaft engines that power a five-blade main rotor system and two propellers installed on short-span fixed wings, combining the vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) capabilities and full hover flight capabilities of a helicopter with the fast cruise speeds of a turboprop-powered aircraft. On November 29, the X3 reached the program’s Step 1 speed objective by attaining a true airspeed of 180 knots (333 km/h or 207 mph) in level flight at a reduced engine power level.

The X3 demonstrator’s maiden flight took place on September 6, 2010 in Southern France at the Istres Center of “DGA Flight Testing”, and since then the basic hybrid demonstrator aircraft’s stability and handling has been tested both with and without autopilot. It has reached an altitude of 12,500 feet (3,810 m) and performed maneuvers with left and right turns at bank angles of up to 60 degrees. With initial testing operating on reduced power, the flight envelope was progressively opened to achieve the 180 knot milestone.

The X3 has performed extremely well, demonstrating handling and flight qualities that are exactly in line with our ground-based simulator evaluations,” said Eurocopter test pilot Hervé Jammayrac. “This helicopter is really built for speed, and our test team looks forward to taking the X3 to the next steps of its flight regime.”

After a three-month upgrade the X3 is set to enter a second set of flight tests in March 2011, with the goal of reaching sustained cruise speeds in excess of 220 knots (407 km/h or 253 mph) – which, it should be noted, still falls short of the 250 knots (463 km/h or 287.69 mph) record achieved by Sikorsky Aircraft’s coaxial X2 Technology demonstrator in September this year.

The X3 is built around a Eurocopter Dauphin helicopter frame and is designed to suit a wide range of applications, including long-distance search and rescue (SAR) missions, coast guard duties, border patrol missions, passenger transportation and inter-city shuttle services. Eurocopter says it could also be well-tailored for military missions in Special Force’s operations, troop transportation, combat SAR and medical evacuation.

Boeing/DARPA DiscRotor Heliplane

The CSAR DiscRotor, a collaboration between Boeing and DARPA, was approved back in 2008. It’s taken two years to get an animated video of the insane retractable-wing heliplane, but all that time and money has clearly been worth it, because this thing looks awesome.

The DiscRotor combines the hovering ability and landing control of a helicopter with the high-speed, high-altitude flight capabilities of a plane, something that could be of use especially in military situations. A helicopter can get places a plane can’t (the F-35 notwithstanding), since it doesn’t need a landing strip or particularly smooth terrain, but even high-speed (or record-breaking!) helicopters are much slower and more vulnerable in the air.

DARPA says this kind of vehicle "provides survivability, mobility, and responsiveness for troop and cargo insertion." But blades are fragile and create unwanted drag, which is why we haven’t just stuck a helicopter blade onto an airplane and called it a day.

The blades of the DiscRotor retract into a flat disc, which can in turn be used as another wing when the craft is flying like a plane. At that point, it’s powered by two traditional turbo-shaft engines underneath each wing, and flies more or less like a typical plane. The main problem is that the vehicle needs to be able to transition from plane mode to helicopter mode reliably and smoothly while in the air, and the in-air forces make that pretty difficult. A Boeing rep notes that that is only one of "several large technical challenges."

The DiscRotor is in phase 1b of DARPA’s testing; a model will undergo wind tunnel testing in 2011.

The Skylifter airship concept

For decades, fans of airships have been hoping for a large-scale revival of the majestic floating aircraft. Every few years, lighter than air flying concepts come along to raise those hopes, such as Northrop Grumman’s Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle, Skyhook’s JHL-40, and DARPA’s Walrus, which led to the current Aeroscraft ML866 project. Now there’s another unique contender to the throw into the mix – Australia’s Skylifter. If it ever makes it to the skies, however, it’s sure to be the source of some bogus UFO sightings.

Purpose

Skylifter is a dirigible gas balloon system which, as its name implies, is intended for transporting cargo too heavy, bulky or fragile for conventional aircraft – its carrying capacity is rated at 150 tonnes (165 US tons). While the company’s immediate plans are for traditional payloads, down the road it would be interested in developing prefabricated buildings that Skylifter could drop into hard-to-reach locations, or luxury pod units that would take up to 80 passengers at a time on air cruises.

Design

The aircraft would consist of three main sections. Floating at the top would be the symmetrical discus aerostat, which is a fancy way of saying “saucer-shaped balloon.” It would be permanently filled with lighter-than-air gas. Hanging on suspension lines below it would be the cylindrical control pod, with the two-pilot flight deck mounted on the bottom. Cargo would hang from cables below that.

Propulsion

Biodiesel engines, augmented by solar panels on top of the balloon, would generate electricity to power three propellers mounted on the sides of the control pod. The propellers would be cycloidal, meaning that the blades would be arranged horizontally. The main advantage of such propellers would be that they could be rapidly controlled via a helicopter-style collective – this would definitely come in handy for the precise maneuvering involved in the collecting and depositing of cargo.

The airship would have an estimated cruising air speed of 45 knots (83 km/h or 52mph), and a range of at least 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles).

Advantages

As with other lighter-than-air vehicles, Skylifter’s main bragging points are its lifting abilities, the fact that it could stay aloft for days at a time, and its relatively low fuel usage and CO2 emissions (as compared to an airplane or helicopter).

Unlike traditional blimp-shaped airships, Skylifter would have no front or rear end, meaning that keeping it turned into the wind would not be an issue, and it could easily spin 360 degrees. It also wouldn’t be limited to landing at airfields with masts, which is the case with blimps. Instead, the pod and balloon would be moored to the ground, and the balloon could be lowered down close to the pod to minimize the effects of wind – the designers estimate that it could withstand gusts of up to 148 km/h (92 mph).

So, will we ever see a Skylifter in real life? Well, the designers have already built two proof-of-concept models of the lift system, and plan to build at least two more that are bigger and better. In the meantime, here’s hoping.

Iran’s Bavar 2

Iran’s Sacred Week of Defense (celebrating its eight-year resistance to the Iraqi invation of the 1980s) is never without a healthy dose of pomp and ceremony, but this week Iran’s defense ministry took the usual military parade to the waterfront. Yesterday Iran unveiled three squadrons of machine-gun-wielding flying boats. Yeah, you read that correctly.

The Bavar 2 is an ocean-going craft meant to pack surveillance cameras, an automatic weapon, and perhaps even missiles. Though it’s unclear exactly what it’s supposed to defend against. And it’s also supposed to be “stealth,” presumably because if flies so low – just above the water, as far as we can tell – that it rolls under the radar.

It’s fast, however, and it could be employed in the Iranian Navy’s favorite game: harassing everyone else with a vessel afloat in the Persian Gulf. For that it might be ideal, darting quickly and menacingly around other larger naval vessels it has no intention of or capability for attacking.

So why spend the money? To quote Iranian Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi’s statement to the press: “"Islamic Republic of Iran is one of the few countries which managed to design, build and use flying boats in a short time.” Which is true. Sorry DARPA, but you’ve been bested. Time to wind down your flying boat program.