Boeing 797? Is this for real?

Bumblebee

Commodore
Well folks, I just received this from an old friend of mine asking if I had heard of it before. I think I saw this picture somewhere, but I don't know anything beyond that. I would appreciate feedback from those in the know. Yes, you may tease me for my naiveté or gullibility if you must.<?xml:namespace prefix = v ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" /><v:shapetype class=inlineimg id=_x0000_t75 title="Stick Out Tongue" alt="" smilieid="5" stroked="f" filled="f" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" src="images/smilies/tongue.gif" border="0" v:shapetype o<> :)
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Look at this new aircraft....

Boeing is preparing a 1000 passenger jet that could reshape the Air travel industry for the next 100 years. The radical Blended Wing design has been developed by Boeing in cooperation with the NASA Langley Research Center. The mammoth plane will have a wing span of 265 feet compared to the 747's 211 feet, and is designed to fit within the newly created terminals used for the 555 seat Airbus A380, which is 262 feet wide.

The new 797 is in direct response to the Airbus A380 which has racked up 159 orders, but has not yet flown any passengers. Boeing decide to kill its 747X stretched super jumbo in 2003 after little interest was shown by airline companies, but has continued to develop the ultimate Airbus crusher 797 for years at its Phantom Works research facility in Long Beach, Calif.

The Airbus A380 has been in the works since 1999 and has accumulated $13 billion in development costs, which gives Boeing a huge advantage now that Airbus has committed to the older style tubular aircraft for decades to come.

There are several big advantages to the blended wing design, the most important being the lift to drag ratio which is expected to increase by an amazing 50%, with overall weight reduced by 25%, making it an estimated 33% more efficient than the A380, and making Airbus's $13 billion dollar investment look pretty shaky.

High body rigidity is another key factor in blended wing aircraft, It reduces turbulence and creates less stress on the air frame which adds to efficiency, giving the 797 a tremendous 8800 nautical mile range with its 1000 passengers flying comfortably at mach 0.88 or 654 mph (+-1046km/h) cruising speed a nother advantage over the Airbus tube-and-wing designed A380's 570 mph (912 km/h).

The exact date for introduction is unclear, yet the battle lines are clearly drawn in the high-stakes war for civilian air supremacy.



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The design is for real and has been around in one form or another for a long, long time. The design is extremely efficient, but in the past the airlines have not been very interested because of a belief that passengers would not appreciate riding in it. I've heard Boeing is working on a new blended body design, but I've not heard that they've green-lighted it.
 
Hmmm, I haven't heard anything about it. They are still in qual testing for the 787, I would think that they wouldn't be stretching themselves too thin in todays day and age. I have been known to be wrong though, one time.:)
 
seems like I remember seeing this exact same article and picture on snopes at one time. Well I thought I did but now I can't seem to find it. Oh well.
 
If anyone remembers the Sonic Cruiser that Boeing either signed letters of intent or took orders for back in '99 or 2k, it had a similar design. Not quite the blended wing design, but a significant departure from the designs of the last 80 or so years...
 
After reading this I noticed that on the Boeing commercial their playing now they have that prototype, or something similar, in it.

boeingpr5.jpg
 
Snopes claims it is false, thats not completely true. Boeing is indeed working with NASA to build a blended wing design aircraft, and they already have began flight test of a scaled model. The test model has a 21' wingspan. The test plane flew to about 7-8k' I think the middle of last year june or july.
The comment from Boeing in regards to a commercial application was "While a commercial passenger application for the BWB concept is not in Boeing’s current 20-year market outlook, the Advanced Systems organization of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems’ (IDS) is closely monitoring the research based on the BWB’s potential as a flexible, long-range, high-capacity military aircraft"

As with any press release...read between the lines. If they could make a plane designed for military use, but could then turn around and use it for commercial use...Oh wait...they already did...its called the 747! It was designed as a military transport, but lockheed won that battle and fred is still the king of military transport!
 

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Imagine sitting on the extreme left or right side of that thing during a turn! You would definitely feel it and it is apparently one of the drawbacks to the design.
 
:confused: Not if the turn is coordinated. On the ground, sure; but in the air?

Even if the turn is coordinated, the visual picture would be very uncomfortable for pax in the far left/right seats of the a/c (think how far above/below the a/c the wingtips of a transport cat. jet are in a moderate bank). Add to that the overall lack of windows, plus evacuation issues, and I doubt we'll ever see a blended body commercial passenger design go to market.
 
I thought that Boeing was in the eco-friendly market now, with airport to airport planes, instead of hub to hub planes. I read a while back they wanted to stick turbo-props on a 717 and fly that around or something.
 
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