Biofuel-powered, laser-loaded Boeing plane of the future visits FedEx hub

The aircraft of the future made a pit stop at FedEx’s Memphis hub Monday as the company marked Earth Day.

Powered by biofuel made from animal fat and beef tallow waste, the Boeing 777 ecoDemonstrator sported sensors that warn of airfield and airborne obstacles, along with pilot biofeedback technology, 3-D-printed parts, recycled titanium parts and other innovations.

Already FedEx Express’ most advanced aircraft, this 777 is spending three months as a flying test bed for technologies that may be destined for future passenger and freight airliners.

“It’s really about innovation. This is a platform where we let engineers bring their ideas, and we get to try them out and see if they’re worth pursuing on future projects," said Doug Christensen, Boeing’s ecoDemonstrator program test manager.

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FedEx received the plane last fall, named it Hollie after an employee’s child, and used it during the holiday peak shipping season. It went back to Boeing in January to be outfitted as the ecoDemonstrator.

It arrived from the Western U.S. on Sunday night and was parked outside a hangar Monday morning for tours by FedEx Memphis employees, University of Memphis graduate students and media.

This is the fifth ecoDemonstrator in a Boeing program that partners with airlines to test technology before it’s mass produced. It’s the first partnership with FedEx.

The plane is due to return to the FedEx fleet as a regular 777F in June, stripped of gadgets, but Boeing officials said some technologies will enter production lines soon.

David Cunningham, FedEx Express president and CEO, said the company was eager to participate: “Innovation is a part of FedEx’s DNA, and Boeing and FedEx have had a long relationship of innovating and building new products and capabilities.”

“At the end of the day, what we’re all trying to do is make sure we have a safe environment and an efficient environment and one that’s sustainable from an environmental standpoint,” Cunningham said.

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The ecoDemonstrator’s use of 100 percent biofuel dovetails with a FedEx goal of powering its fleet with 30 percent biofuel by 2030.

Jeanne Yu, Boeing Commercial Airplanes director for technology integration and the ecoDemonstrator program, said, “It’s the first time we’ve flown 100 percent biofuel. Today you can only fly a 50 percent blend, so this is the first ever 100 percent."

"Biofuels have a smaller carbon footprint, about 80 percent smaller carbon footprint than traditional jet fuel. What you’ll end up doing is flying with a smaller carbon footprint," Yu said.

The plane's wing-mounted turbofan engines were modified with compact thrust reversers with potential to make such engines 10-15 percent more efficient. The reversers had already been tested and removed, but one was hauled to Memphis and put on display.

The ecoDemonstrator includes a collaboration with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) using a tail-mounted clear air turbulence detection system. It projects a laser beam six miles ahead to find reflections off particles that predict turbulence, so that a pilot can adjust course and avoid a bumpy ride, Yu said.

Naming the plane after 11-year-old Hollie Watson, daughter of a FedEx employee, continues a long tradition at FedEx.

Hollie is the youngest of four daughters of Larry Watson, a FedEx planning engineer, and Janet Watson, an American history teacher at Northpoint Christian School. Hollie is a fifth-grader at Northpoint.

“I think it’s really amazing and I’m glad they’re getting information to help make better planes,” Hollie said after touring the plane. “It was really big. I liked being up with all the controls.”

Her father said he’d been entering his daughters’ names in drawings for FedEx plane names since his first was born in the early 1990s.

“My dad told me, and I didn’t really believe him at first, but I thought it was really fun,” Hollie said.

Reach reporter Wayne Risher at (901) 529-2874 or wayne.risher@commercialappeal.com.