It can comfortably
fly 10,000 Miles (16,000 km) at Mach 0.88 or 654 mph (1,046
km/h) with 1000 passengers on board !
They have
kept this secret long enough.
This shot was taken last month
by an amateur
photographer.
The BOEING
797
Boeing is
preparing this 1000 passenger Jet Liner that could reshape
the Air Travel Industry. Its radical "Blended Wing &
Fuselage" design has been developed by Boeing in
cooperation with NASA Langley Research Centre. The mammoth
aircraft will have a wing span of 265 feet compared to 211
feet of its 747, and its been designed to fit within the
newly created Air Terminals for the 555 seat Airbus A380,
which is 262 feet wide.
The new
797 is Boeing's direct response to the Airbus A380, which
has racked up orders for 159 already. Boeing decided to
kill its 747X Stretched Super Jumbo in 2003 after little
interest was shown for it by Airline Companies, but
continued to develop its "Ultimate Airbus Crusher", the
797 at its Phantom Works Research Facility in Long Beach,
California.
The Airbus
A380 had been in the works since 1999 and has accumulated
$13 Billion in development costs, which gives Boeing a
huge advantage. More so because Airbus is thus committed
to the older style tubular structure for their aircraft
for decades to come.
There are several big
advantages in the "Blended Wing & Fuselage" design,
the most important being the ?Lift to Drag? ratio which is
expected to increase by an amazing 50%, resulting in an
overall weight reduction of the aircraft by 25%, making it
an estimated 33% more fuel efficient than the A380, and
thus making the Airbus's $13 Billion Dollar investment
look pretty shaky.
"High
Airframe Rigidity" is another key factor in the "Blended
Wing & Fuselage" technology. It reduces turbulence and
creates less stress on the airframe which adds to fuel
efficiency, giving the 797 a tremendous 10,000 Mile range
with 1,000 passengers on board cruising comfortably at
Mach 0.88 or 654 MPH, which gives it another advantage
over the tube-and-wing designed A380's 570
MPH.
The exact
date ! for introduction of the 797 is as yet unclear, but
the battle lines are clearly drawn in the high-stakes war
for future civilian aircraft
supremacy.
