New Configuration Types

In the past, unknown configuration types mostly delivered some surprises during their flight tests: so called "unknowns", because new. unknown physical effects were detected, and “known unknowns", because phy sics were known in principle, but not respected because of the negligi­ble influence of those effects on the older, known configurations. And we have to expect new "known and unknown" surprises with new configurations. Therefore, certification of new con­figurations and related technologies like

• Oblique Flying Wing aircraft (OFW)

• extremely flexible aircraft

• flutter sensitive aircraft

• artificial flutter supression

• supersonic laminar flow technology

• artificial view

probably will require demonstration of safe operation in a flying demonstrator. To accelerate certification, careful testing of a demonstrator aircraft with mature technology is absolutely necessary To skip this step will most certainly turn out to be much more expensive and time consuming. (Although, there is a high probability that pennywise decision makers will not miss the opportunity to waste billions of $$…).

6.2 Conclusion

be applicable for civil aviation, these technologies must be certified. But even certification itself will require some special new certification technologies To forget for this part will eventually coet additional time and money, although humans and ibig) companies often prefer this route which delays the known necessary, but inconvenient decisions.