The ACARE ‘Out of the Box’ Study
Professor Terry Knibb, former chief scientist at BAE Systems and a member of the ACARE Integration Team, told delegates at the RAeS conference that while A

Professor Terry Knibb, former chief scientist at BAE Systems and a member of the ACARE Integration Team, told delegates at the RAeS conference that while ACARE’s 2020 goals are “still valid,” ACARE recognized that aircraft designs haven’t changed much. For this reason, “Out of the Box” was initiated “to look at the wild ideas, for things with a kernel of possibility that could stimulate step-changes in air transport,” said Knibb.

“We were looking for innovative, discontinuous, revolutionary ideas,” he continued. “We had workshops and then filtered the concepts to propose research programs. From 100 ideas we identified six as having the most potential.” (Among suggestions that were rejected, said Knibb, were group flying, runways on the sea, beaming power to aircraft and a Star Trek-like “cloaking device.”)