Boeing 797 Blended Wing

[schizer]

Wow, this thing could revolutionize commercial air travel

http://www.newtechspy.com/articles06/boeing797.html

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/02_47/b3809113.htm


Boeing to take on Airbus with (1000 seat) giant 797 Blended Wing plane
....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 up159 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 .88 or 654 mph cruising speed (another advantage over the Airbus tube-and-wing designed A380’s 570 mph)
....The exact date for introduction is unclear, yet the battle lines are clearly drawn in the high-stakes war for civilian air supremacy.

”This is a great advancement in commercial aviation and a huge win for boeing"

[Meatwad]

Thats a freaky design

[Dinger]

Yeah, too bad there's no indication whatsoever that Boeing un-scrapped the project.

[Nilsen]

Cant be very practical to find parking for that plane on a congested airport.

[mora]

Originally posted by schizer
Wow, this thing could revolutionize commercial air travel

In what way?

[Ripsnort]

"He's dead, Jim"

[rpm]

Originally posted by Nilsen
Cant be very practical to find parking for that plane on a congested airport.

I watched a program about this plane a couple years ago on Discovery Wings. The problem with a blended wing passenger plane is none of the airports are designed to handle it.

If the objective is to be more efficient you have to move more passengers. To move more passengers, you have to get them on and off of the aircraft. Current gates are spaced too close together to fit them. You'd have to redesign every airport.

[Nilsen]

Originally posted by rpm
I watched a program about this plane a couple years ago on Discovery Wings. The problem with a blended wing passenger plane is none of the airports are designed to handle it.

If the objective is to be more efficient you have to move more passengers. To move more passengers, you have to get them on and off of the aircraft. Current gates are spaced too close together to fit them. You'd have to redesign every airport.

yup, saw the same show. Its the same problem for the A380 many places, but on a lesser scale.

[Chairboy]

Regarding the 'congested airports' comment, it has a slightly smaller footprint than the A-380:

[Gh0stFT]

Chairboy true, footprints are fun, but to really build & fly one is another story,
a nice idea but this kind of plane would only pay off for super long
distances,
to quote the anti-airbus folks.
So lets see...

[Chairboy]

Yeah, that's why I was only responding to the "hard to find parking" comment.  That problem exists already, and isn't the "silver bullet" for the BWB design.

I've been following the BWB stuff for years, they flew a subscale model a few years ago, and this thing could be the neatest thing since flying sliced bread.

[Nilsen]

Originally posted by Chairboy
Regarding the 'congested airports' comment, it has a slightly smaller footprint than the A-380:

Yes, but the shape of the thing means you have to redesign all those tube things that you unload people with.

[Ripsnort]

Boeing scrapped this 797 idea in favor of smaller jet transports after doing extensive market research. The Customers customers (the people who fly the customers airliners) wanted smaller jets not larger, easier to unload, claim baggage, etc.  Boeing didn't get much enthusiasm from its customers when it presented the BWC, sooo...

Boeing is playing to one market niche, Airbus is playing to another.  We'll see how it turns out in 10 years.

[2bighorn]

This article is BS. Nobody yet knows how Y3 will look like.

Besides, 747X (adv) has been resurrected as 747-8, a gap measure until Y3 arrives (if ever).

Boeing is playing to one market niche, Airbus is playing to another. We'll see how it turns out in 10 years.

Both manufacturer are looking to cover the entire market, although is true that Boeing wants to reduce down to 3 families (and possibly to only 3 fuselage diameters):
Y1 - 717, 737, 757 replacement (EIS 2012-15)
Y2 known as 787 - 767, 777 replacement (EIS 2008)
Y3 - 777, 747 replacement (EIS -unknown).

[Nilsen]

Oh my... please dont let this thread turn into another retarded Airbus VS Boing thread.