Oozabooza From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Posted (13 years 1 week 2 days 19 hours ago) and read 1061 times:
I certainly don't mean to offend any engineers out there, but don't you think all commercial jets are beginning to look the same, save for the 717. I live in Seattle and work in Renton. Everyday I drive by Boeing field and often have lunch in a parking lot at the end of the runway in Renton. All these newer planes, 90's on, seem to just be slightly different versions of themselves on the outside. What happened to designing planes that were asthetically pleasing as well as highly functional. The 747 comes to mind, what an amazing looking aircraft! It is art! The constellation was beautiful, DC-3 is gorgeous, even the 727 was unique in its look. Now it seems to me that all the newer aircraft, 737s, Airbus, 757, 777, though highly functional, just don't have that artistic quality about them that makes so many people fall in love with aviation in the first place. Am I just being too picky or does anyone else share this view. BTW, thanks for the tips on upgrading! I'm going to try a few of them!
Dk From France, joined Jan 2010, 0 posts, RR: 0 Reply 1, posted (13 years 1 week 2 days 18 hours ago) and read 903 times:
I for one don't think you are being too picky but what else can they do design wise? A tube is a tube, which is basically what an airplane is, unfortunately. Who was the airline maker that was fooling around with the all wing design many years back? The airplane looked like a big wing....now that might be interesting!
Goingboeing From United States of America, joined Dec 1999, 4875 posts, RR: 19 Reply 2, posted (13 years 1 week 2 days 17 hours ago) and read 893 times:
A few years back, McDonnell Douglas was designing a "prop fan" aircraft that was basically an MD80 with rear mounted engines and a "propeller" on the back. One major concern was that the flying public would not be too keen on "reverting" back to "prop planes" at this point in time. It would have provided for a bit of an unusual look, though.
Fanofjets From United States of America, joined Apr 2000, 1895 posts, RR: 3 Reply 3, posted (13 years 1 week 2 days 16 hours ago) and read 882 times:
Several flying wing designs come to mind, both civil and military.
On the civil side, perhaps you were thinking about the huge pre-war Junkers G-38, which was essentially a flying wing with a short, stubby fuselage. Passengers sat in the fuselage or in the wing; the views from the latter must have been spectacular!
In the late 1970s, McDonnel Douglas conceived of a freighter that would carry cargo in its thick wings; the beast was to have been powered by six high-bypass turbofans mounted in pods above the wing. Not to be outdone, Boeing had come up with a nuclear-powered passenger jet featuring windows along the huge wing's leading edge. My 1980-vintage Illustrated Encyclopedia of Commercial Aircraft gives pictures but no model numbers for either design.
Jack Northrop experimented with flying wing bombers long before the B-2 stealth: the huge piston-engined XB-35 and its jet-powered counterpart, the YB-49. While both designs were highly capable (notwithstanding the XB-35's tempermental engines, which were prone to overheating), the US Air Force opted for more conventional designs, the Convair B-36 and the Boeing B-47. On a smaller scale were the Westland Pterodactyl and the Armstrong Whitworth AW.52G.
The aeroplane has unveiled for us the true face of the earth. -Antoine de Saint-Exupery
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