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Rear center fuel tank adds roughly 20k liters and extends range by 1k NM

airbus.com

11–20 of 64 posts

Re: Rear center fuel tank adds roughly 20k liters and extends range by 1k NM

#11

> flight times of up to 22 hours Making flight connections is never fun, but this sounds absolutely brutal.

Living in Australia, and travelling to Europe last Christmas as a family of 4, I really wanted to get the direct London to Perth flight, but connecting flights didn't line up. Being able to do Melbourne or Sydney would be great. Not needing to deal with connections, and cutting 6+ hours off the total travel time sounds amazing, possibly getting us there a day earlier, meaning more time for Greggs vegan sausage rolls.

Re: Rear center fuel tank adds roughly 20k liters and extends range by 1k NM

#12
post #7
post #3

> In addition, a new galley air cooling system will also be certified, which features lighter and more efficient refrigeration units for very long flights. I wonder how they work.. considering outside air is way below freezing ar cruising altitude, I guess radiators? Could the refrigerant be brought close to the plane's skin to cool it?

At altitude you can reject heat straight to the aircraft skin. Some designs run an internal heat sink on the ground and during climb, watch altitude, and only switch on the skin-exchanger coolant pump once outside is cold enough to cool the loop for free. The reason it stays a refrigeration unit and not just vents is the ground case. Gate on a hot day, doors open, no ram air, warm soak: that's the worst case, and whe…

Presenting raw LLM output as your own writing in a human-to-human context is rude and antisocial, not to mention incredibly transparent.

Re: Rear center fuel tank adds roughly 20k liters and extends range by 1k NM

#14

> flight times of up to 22 hours Making flight connections is never fun, but this sounds absolutely brutal.

Also bad for fuel economy (and/or take a hit on cargo/pax/luggage carrying capacity): You have to take off with all that fuel even though you only need X / hr. Increased weight = more flying at a lower altitude (+ air resistance) until the fuel burn makes it safe to fly higher.

On shorter flights, you still have the weight impact from that empty tank and its infra. If they had to make a bump out on the fuselage, you have a permanent aerodynamics hit.

It's like permanently attaching a cargo carrier to your vehicle to carry more fuel. Fewer fuel stops, but more burn per mile. Can make sense in some situations.

The study of breaking up long-haul flights for reduced fuel burn is usually called: "Intermediate Stop Operations"

Re: Rear center fuel tank adds roughly 20k liters and extends range by 1k NM

#15
post #4
post #3

> In addition, a new galley air cooling system will also be certified, which features lighter and more efficient refrigeration units for very long flights. I wonder how they work.. considering outside air is way below freezing ar cruising altitude, I guess radiators? Could the refrigerant be brought close to the plane's skin to cool it?

Or just… computer controlled air vents?

may not be worth the aero hit. Kinda like running a/c in a car at high speeds instead of opening the windows. Not sure where the crossover point is.

In my dreams, my ultra-advanced car would open the windows when braking to get two benefits in one.

Re: Rear center fuel tank adds roughly 20k liters and extends range by 1k NM

#16
post #10

> flight times of up to 22 hours Making flight connections is never fun, but this sounds absolutely brutal.

I'd love to visit Australia and SE Asia but am hesitant with those long flights. I'd probably be fine with layflat seats but those are well beyond what I'd ever consider paying for an airline ticket.

Would make sense to offer packages with lay-flat seats in shifts (possibly formally/informally for people on the same ticket).

Re: Rear center fuel tank adds roughly 20k liters and extends range by 1k NM

#17

> flight times of up to 22 hours Making flight connections is never fun, but this sounds absolutely brutal.

Does it actually take 22 hours for a commercial airplane to get to the diametrically opposite point on the globe?

Re: Rear center fuel tank adds roughly 20k liters and extends range by 1k NM

#18

> flight times of up to 22 hours Making flight connections is never fun, but this sounds absolutely brutal.

Also bad for fuel economy (and/or take a hit on cargo/pax/luggage carrying capacity): You have to take off with all that fuel even though you only need X / hr. Increased weight = more flying at a lower altitude (+ air resistance) until the fuel burn makes it safe to fly higher. On shorter flights, you still have the weight impact from that empty tank and its infra. If they had to make a bump out on the fuselage, you…

But it may allow operation of more routes without the need to refuel at both ends. That can be logistically interesting, paticularly going forward in a world of fuel crisis and uncertainty. Being able to deliver people in and out of Cuba without having to refuel in that country would be a market niche.

Re: Rear center fuel tank adds roughly 20k liters and extends range by 1k NM

#19
post #10

> flight times of up to 22 hours Making flight connections is never fun, but this sounds absolutely brutal.

I'd love to visit Australia and SE Asia but am hesitant with those long flights. I'd probably be fine with layflat seats but those are well beyond what I'd ever consider paying for an airline ticket.

You can play the points game and win - Singapore biz from US west coast booked a year in advance is within the signup bonus amount :)

Re: Rear center fuel tank adds roughly 20k liters and extends range by 1k NM

#20
post #17

> flight times of up to 22 hours Making flight connections is never fun, but this sounds absolutely brutal.

Does it actually take 22 hours for a commercial airplane to get to the diametrically opposite point on the globe?

900 km/h, 20,000 kilometers. Yep!
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