A walk through aeronautical disciplines showing real numbers based on university flight tests. What can be expect beyond unfounded promises?
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dieter Scholz, MSME, FRAeS, HAW Hamburg:
New Blended Wing Body (BWB) Aircraft – Is 50% Fuel Reduction a Credible Claim
Date and Time: Thursday, 15.01.2026, 18:00
Location: HAW Hamburg, Berliner Tor 5 (Neubau), Hörsaal 01.11
Poster: https://purl.org/AeroLectures/2026-01-15 (PDF)
Registration (voluntary): https://www.eventbrite.de/e/1980316370573
Language: English
Startup companies are convinced the Blended Wing Body (BWB) configuration will revolutionize flight and will use „up to 50% less fuel than today’s commercial jets“ (www.jetzero.aero). The US-based companies are JetZero and Natilus. In December 2025, Outbound Aerospace had to shut down, running out of funding. In contrast: „Substantial fuel reduction cannot be expected for passenger aircraft“ is the research result from a former HAW Hamburg project featuring a flying BWB demonstrator called AC20230 with a span of 3 m. The presentation will guide the audience through the aeronautical disciplines and show with real numbers and a few equations what to expect beyond unfounded promises and artist’s impressions. However, a viable application could be a BWB tanker. Large parts of such an aircraft could remain unpressurized, and like the Northrop B2 bomber, the BWB offers low-observable (stealth) characteristics. Even more important: The U.S. Air Force needs a tanker replacement and has funds available. In 2023, the U.S. Air Force awarded a $235-million contract to JetZero to build a full-scale demonstrator by 2027 in partnership with Scaled Composites (Northrop Grumman).
