AIR TO SURFACE
Airbus is one of the leaders in implementing state-of-the-art technology into not only making their planes safer, but also more efficient and comfortable. Now you might be asking why are we featuring some futuristic-looking plane on these pages? Well, the short answer is that many car-related technologies originally stem from the aviation industry. Aerodynamics for one: The principles of lift have essentially been reverse-engineered to keep cars grounded at high speeds. And then there’s autopilot that using L-Nav (lateral) and V-Nav (vertical) predetermined inputs, essentially lets the plane fly itself with close monitoring and adjustments from pilots. A principle the automotive industry is only getting to grips with now. The MAVERIC you see here, though, is the latest concept from Airbus. And while it’s only two metres long and 3.2 metres wide, it will create an entirely different canvas for the planemaker to implement its technologies. A prominent theme will arguably be the use of different materials in order to achieve this ‘disruptive design’. And I’m willing to bet, it won’t be long before that reaches the car manufacturing sector to create ever-safer vehicles.