Aircraft

Humankind has always dreamed about flying, within the atmosphere or outside it. From Leonardo da Vinci onwards, research has aimed at, and reached, increasingly ambitious technology goals that eventually culminated in putting a human on the Moon. Today technological challenges for aerospace revolve around making commercial air transport more efficient and widespread, with lower environmental impact through the use of alternative energy sources, less expensive and with higher safety standards.

But the world of aeronautics is extremely conservative. In other words, except for strange aircraft developed in research centers or for purely military purposes, there is a tendency to consolidate acquired knowledge, particularly in commercial and general aviation. This is because of the psychological tendency to find safety and comfort in known features, which in technical terms translates into the tendency not to change well-known and proven approaches.

Thus the aircraft we see today are substantially similar to those of 50 or 60 years go, and we would certainly be confused if – rather than the familiar tube-shaped fuselage - we were asked to board a windowless, triangular aircraft holding as many rows of seats as a cinema. But the new shapes, new technologies, new materials, new services which we find discomforting today will eventually become familiar, because their introduction will be required to dramatically reduce pollution, travel time and increase air travel, while simultaneously cutting aircraft free from the invisible paths they must follow today in order to be monitored from the ground.

The CIRA Aircraft Unit is already moving in this direction with its aeronautics, space and helicopter research activities and with its unique test facilities.