A 78+ year-old aircraft principle of design is the plane of the future.
Vincent Justus Burnelli, our company founder, invented, conceived and patented the Burnelli Lifting Body Principle of Design. This Principle of Design, while not well known due to political forces, remains, since 1921, the foremost technology in airframe design.
During his life, starting in 1921, Vincent Burnelli applied his Lifting-Body Principle of Design to nine aircraft (see photo section). Some of the advantages of his design principle:
✦Improved Survivability in accidents (as demonstrated by UB-14 crash of 1935)
✴More structure around occupants = better protection
✦Reduced Fire opportunities in crash
✴Segregation of Fuel & Engines = fire less likely from engine/fuel tank failure
✴Segregation of Landing gear & Fuel = less likely fire from landing-gear collapse.
✦Fuselage contributing to lift.
✴Higher Weight Carrying Capacity
✴Lower take-off and landing speeds
✴Provides floatation in case of water landing
✦General shape of fuselage
✴Allows carrying twice the volume of similarly powered aircraft
✴Allows more passenger comfort
✴Allows access & repairs to many aircraft functions ‘in-flight’ (including landing gear).
Vincent Burnelli applied for and received a patent on this Principle of Design. He applied for it on January 6, 1921 and received the patent on May 13, 1930. The patent number is: 1,758,498. The lifting body is one of the most important contributions to flight ever made and in 1944, Vincent Burnelli received the prestigious Fawcett Award for “Major Contribution to the Scientific Advancement of Aviation” recognizing his achievement.
Why hasn’t this design become a successful commercial venture yet? In a nutshell, because the time wasn’t ripe yet. We look forward to the day when Burnelli-type aircraft criss-cross the skies, allowing people to travel more comfortably, in crash-worthy aircraft and at a significant fuel savings for both the passengers and the planet.
We hope you will be interested enough to read more about this Lifting-Body Principle of Design Technology and be moved to help by telling all who will listen about this web-site. And why not ask your favorite airline if your next flight will be aboard a Burnelli aircraft?