Blended Wing Body Jet Safer and More Efficient, Claims Boeing.

• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.
• Position: Brief Article

Phantom Works, the Boeing Company's research division, plans to flight test a 14 percent model of a futuristic transport plane that could be used in both commercial and military activities. The test would take place in 2002.

The so-called "blended wing body" integrates engines, wing and body into a single lifting surface. A blended wing-body transport design promises "significant aerodynamic and structural efficiencies," said George K. Muellner, vice president and general manager of Phantom Works, in St. Louis.

The efficiencies of the blended wing body design, explained Muellner in a briefing to reporters, come from greater range and fuel economy, lower manufacturing costs and greater reliability and safety.

This aircraft eventually could become the cornerstone of a new family of still-undefined commercial transports. For the military, they could serve as refueling tankers, said Muellner. "We have a flying prototype. We are working with NASA to build a 35-foot wingspan prototype."

The improvements in aerodynamic efficiency mean that there would be "much better use of the area you have available fox payload," he explained.

That could have significant implications for military tanker and cargo platforms, allowing for heavier payloads to travel longer distances.

A commercial family of airplanes would use the same wings and vary the...