New Boeing 797 Giant “Blended Wing” Passenger Airliner-Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
The story says that the Boeing Company is developing a radical new passenger jetliner that will carry 1,000 passengers. It’s designated the 797 and is a “blended wing” design looking a lot like the old flying wing experiments of the 50’s.
The Truth:
TruthOrFiction.com went straight to the source, the Boeing Company. A spokesperson said that it is not true that Boeing is developing a commercial blended wing aircraft. He asked that we help stop the perpetuation of the story.
What is true, according to Boeing, is that Boeing Phantom Works, the company’s advanced research and development organization, is doing research on the blended wing body design as a potential military aircraft. Boeing has built a scale model to test its low-speed flying characteristics in a wind tunnel. There are also plans (as of 7/13/07) to flight test a scale model.
Updated 7/14/06