BOEING 797 -- WOW!!
The planned answer to the Airbus A380From Peggy Franklin
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 another
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?
