Airbus Propfan Concepts from the 80's

Antonio

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Found this drawings on a Spanish "popular science" magazine from 1985
 

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why does the spb-11 concept have the engines in different positions on every side of the a/c?
 
Probably single-aisle and widebody, since that seems to be the main difference between the two fuselages.
 
What happened to propfans, in the late 80's through to the early 90's, all sorts of proposals were being made for them, but nothing seems to have appeared.
 
1) Fuel costs went down
2) Noise was an issue
3) Reliability similar to turbofans would take a while to achieve
4) It didn't suit underwing mounting on existing designs which meant unique airframes needed designing
5) More efficient turbofans made enough improvement at lower risk.

Modern geared high bypass turbofans are getting closer to propfan territory.
 
1) Fuel costs went down
2) Noise was an issue
3) Reliability similar to turbofans would take a while to achieve
4) It didn't suit underwing mounting on existing designs which meant unique airframes needed designing
5) More efficient turbofans made enough improvement at lower risk.

Modern geared high bypass turbofans are getting closer to propfan territory.
Passenger preference probably also played a role. Airlines discovered that many passengers will select flights to avoid anything with propellers when regional jets were introduced. I'd guess that vibration was also an issue.
 
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What happened to propfans, in the late 80's through to the early 90's, all sorts of proposals were being made for them, but nothing seems to have appeared.

When I worked with propfans, fuel costs were about 10% of an airline's operating costs.
 
The two podded engine airliner has established itself as the best solution to the exclusion of all the paper and prototype designs that have been put up against it.
If some kind of energy renewable alternative is developed we may see this change, but I am not holding my breath.
 

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