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Thanks for the research. I guess they've been talking about it for a while and will probably continue to do so. Aviation innovation always moves slowly and it's usually a good thing. Which means marketing departments keep writing the same press releases.

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I guess we'll see after the tests.. but, it looks a bit dangerous, perhaps. A prop may also save (fuel, not time) but they're rarely a good choice for an airline (unless short-haul and the airport/taxi time counts as the majority of "flight time")

A few issues that come to mind:

1/ If a blade snaps on a normal engine, the metal casing catches it. With an open fan, that broken blade turns into shrapnel flying straight toward the passengers, fuel tanks, etc.

2/ The blades would be huge. You can’t just hang them under the wing of a normal Boeing 737 or Airbus A320.

3/ The metal casing on a normal engine acts like a giant muffler. Open rotors are loud.

4/ Open blades have no protection from bird strikes, hailstorms, or runway debris.

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