Laminar flow control: Leap or creep?

The recent meteoric rise in oil prices, coupled with the increasing attention being paid to the impact of aviation upon climate change, has prompted a renewed interest on both sides of the Atlantic in Laminar Flow Control (LFC) Technology. One of the most common claims among research budget holders in the late 1990s was that the aerodynamics of LFC was 'mature'. The author reviews the state of the LFC design toolset with reference to his experiences in the UK aircraft industry and in government service over the past 15 years, most of them directed in some way towards the development and exercising of methods for laminar flow design. The paper concludes with a discussion on whether our aerodynamic knowledge is indeed sufficient to make the 'leap' to an optimised laminar flow transport aircraft, or whether a number of critical design ideas need to be evaluated and refined as we 'creep' towards the dream of a low-emission aircraft.