Boeing’s 757 ecoDemonstrator twice took to the air from Seattle’s Boeing Field on Tuesday, marking the launch of a several-months-long program to test new wing and vertical tail technologies. Conducted in collaboration with TUI Group and NASA, the latest flight tests continue the ecoDemonstrator program’s multi-year effort to accelerate testing, refinement and use of new technologies and methods meant to improve aviation’s environmental performance.

On the 757’s left wing, Boeing plans to evaluate technologies to reduce the environmental effects on natural laminar flow as a way to improve aerodynamic efficiency. For example, the team will test a Krueger shield that can protect the leading edge from insects.

Boeing is under contract with NASA’s Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) Project to test two technologies on the 757 ecoDemonstrator. On the right wing, NASA plans to test “bug-phobic” coatings to reduce the residue left by bug strikes on the leading edges of aircraft wings in an effort to allow for more drag-reducing laminar flow over the remainder of the wing.  

On the vertical tail, NASA and Boeing have begun testing active flow control to improve airflow over the rudder and maximize its aerodynamic efficiency. Wind tunnel testing has shown that active flow control could improve the rudder’s efficiency by up to 20 percent, potentially allowing for smaller vertical tail designs in the future.

Boeing plans to announce further tests with the 757 ecoDemonstrator, leased specifically for the tests. It plans to work with the Aircraft Fleet Recycling Association and the lessor, Stifel’s aircraft finance division, to recycle the 757 using environmental “best practices” following the conclusion of testing.

Since its launch in 2011, the ecoDemonstrator program has tested more than 40 technologies with a 737NG and a 787 Dreamliner.