EXCLUSIVE: OWLS INSPIRE NOISELESS AIRCRAFT FLIGHT

“Owls have a number of structural features that mean each effortless wing beat does not create sound in the forest or over the ­meadow.

“The way the wing operates ensures that noisy turbulence is totally eliminated. Rather than creating a swishing sound, when air passes over the wing, a combination of a serrated leading edge and an almost frilly trailing edge of each feather works to reduce the turbulence that causes the audible wing beats of birds that fly by day.

“Undoubtedly, the owl’s secret weapon is the fine, velvety covering that coats its wing and leg feathers, and provides a natural sound-proofing by absorbing sound frequencies above 2,000 hertz, making them inaudible not only to humans, but to animals the owls prey on, like mice, as well.”

He added: “Owls have stereoscopic vision that is 100 times more sensitive in low light conditions than the human eye. Their hearing is equally acute. Owls’ ears are positioned asymmetrically on the side of a head that can twist almost 300 degrees. This allows them to detect the slightest sound of a scurrying vole or mouse from a long distance.”

Noise reduction is of growing importance to aircraft manufacturers and airports. By 2020, the Advisory Council for Aeronautical Research in Europe wants the industry to ­reduce aircraft noise by 50 per cent and eliminate nuisance noise outside airports.

The aviation industry has already halved the noise made by aircraft over the past 30 to 40 years.

The reductions achieved so far have been largely through improvements to engines and wings. Airbus says the A380 superjumbo will generate about half of the noise of a 747-400, the biggest of the Boeing jumbo jets.

The Airbus Noise Technology Centre was opened in November 2008 at the University of Southampton. It is the result of the long-standing collaboration between Airbus and the university on a range of noise research and development projects.

Airbus research and technology national representative Jenny Body said that Airbus had chosen Britain over other European countries as the home for the centre because of its expertise. She added: “It was a good ­example of the UK leading the way.”

The plane maker, which employs 13,000 people in the UK, works with dozens more British universities on research projects.

The noise centre, led by Professor Xin Zhang, brings together academic staff, ­research fellows and PhD students with the aim of meeting the European noise reduction targets. The ambitious targets require a doubling of the previous rate of progress.

Southampton University started studying owls more than 20 years ago. It has also done work to improve the aerodynamics of the British cycling team’s kit and developed the innovative helmets that helped propel the team to victory at the Beijing Olympics.

Forerunners of the academics working on the owl project helped to develop the streamlining on Concorde.