Boeing's "Wonderwall"

[Triton]

Boeing's 'Wonder Wall'
Mar 10, 2014 by Guy Norris in Things With Wings

Source:
http://aviationweek.com/blog/boeings-wonder-wall

The finished products of any company form its outward face to the world, but it is the rarely seen unfinished designs which really tell the full story behind the evolution of that family. As one might expect, the development path of the combined Boeing and Douglas jetliner series is littered with ‘what if’ concepts that never saw the light of day. Many have been kept out of sight behind closed doors for years, tucked away in the depths of Boeing’s vast archive collection in Bellevue, Washington. But now the dust has been blown off the model collection and, thanks to an imaginative display, the design DNA of the combined Boeing and heritage Douglas line is now magnificently portrayed in the lobby of the company’s Product Development group offices in the Bomarc Building at Everett.

Moving chronologically from the dawn of the commercial jet age and Boeing’s self-funded 367-80 jet transport prototype of the early 1950s to the 787 of today, the display includes every commercial 7-series and Douglas/McDonnell Douglas. However it is the unusual models of design iterations, and steps along the way to the final designs that really catch the eye. Here and there are models of designs that simply never even got close to the Authority To Offer (ATO) stage, or one-offs like the specially developed Boeing 747LCF Dreamlifter for the 787 assembly logistics system. Here are a few of the classics.

 

[Triton]

Dash 80’, 707 and 720 along the top, DC-8 in the middle and early design iterations for the 727 including, at the bottom, a four-engined version. The tails of the production trijet 727 and T-tail DC-9 twinjet are to the right.

Source:
http://aviationweek.com/blog/boeings-wonder-wall

 

[Triton]

Three 747 progenitors – including two full double-deckers and the infamous ‘anteater’ single deck, droop snoot concept.

Source:
http://aviationweek.com/blog/boeings-wonder-wall

 

[Triton]

Looking forward in time from the 1970s through legions of single and twin-aisle family lines. The 747 dominates the central theme with the DC-10 and MD-11 beneath.

Source:
http://aviationweek.com/blog/boeings-wonder-wall

 

[Triton]

One of many ‘7X7’ concepts – a distant four-engined (CFM56) precursor to the 767, and ultimately the 777.

Source:
http://aviationweek.com/blog/boeings-wonder-wall

 

[Triton]

The early 1970s spawned some highly novel concepts including this 747-derived dedicated air freighter and the area-ruled TST transonic transport. Features from this latter design re-emerged 30 years later during the genesis of the 787 when the idea of a semi-conventional area-ruled design was revisited as Project Glacier (Sonic Cruiser) began to morph into Project Yellowstone (7E7/Dreamliner)

Source:
http://aviationweek.com/blog/boeings-wonder-wall

 

[Triton]

Trijets and T-tails. More 7X7 concepts in the 767 family tree included the 7X7/767-100, a twin-engined, semi-widebody T-tail design and the L-1011-like trijet S-duct 7X7 concept of the early 1970s. Note the overwing engine mounted, blown-wing concept immediately aft of the 767-100.

Source:
http://aviationweek.com/blog/boeings-wonder-wall

 

[Triton]

Boeing and Japan co-operated closely on the 7J7 development which, had it gone ahead, would have pioneered several key technologies such as fly-by-wire, propfans (open rotors) and large-scale structural composites.

Source:
http://aviationweek.com/blog/boeings-wonder-wall

 

[Triton]

In the early days of what would later become the 777, Boeing looked at several options for increasing the capacity of the 767 including this rather bizarre 767X concept which grafted a section of 757 fuselage onto the aft upper section of the 767. Nicknamed the hunchback of Mukilteo it was quickly sidelined under the ‘if it doesn’t look right it won’t fly right’ category.

Source:
http://aviationweek.com/blog/boeings-wonder-wall

 

[Triton]

With interest in very large aircraft growing in the early 1990s, particularly amongst trans-Paciifc carriers, Boeing steered away from double-deckers like the competing Airbus A3XX (later A380) and looked at this enormous single-deck, high-wing New Large Airplane (NLA) concept. The Product Development team cast around for ideas on areas such as systems integration and landing gear, even examining the design of the C-17 which, at that time, was still a McDonnell Douglas product. Beneath the NLA is the MD-12, a radical Douglas design aimed at virtually the same market niche as the upcoming 777X.

Another view of the amazing V-tailed NLA and the MD-12. Interestingly the split winglet design of the MD-12 has been resurrected and will fly on the 737 MAX.

Source:
http://aviationweek.com/blog/boeings-wonder-wall

 

[fightingirish]

See also topics:
Re: Boeing airliner and transport projects
Re: Boeing Model 754


Maybe soon the mods might clean up and combine these topics. :

 

[Triton]

Studies in speed. Boeing’s canard configured High Speed Research (HSR) supersonic design for a NASA-led SST project overcame many of the design issues that plagued the still-born Boeing 2707 SST of the 1960s and early 1970s. In the center is the famed transonic-capable Sonic Cruiser which was abandoned in favor of the 7E7 (later the 787).

Source:
http://aviationweek.com/blog/boeings-wonder-wall

 

[Triton]

See also topics:
Re: Boeing airliner and transport projects
Re: Boeing Model 754


Maybe soon the mods might clean up and combine these topics. :

I used Search and yet didn't get any matches. :-[ Note the different source URLs. Didn't mean to steal your thunder, fightingirish or hesham. :'(

I wasn't sure how to add these photographs to the forum considering that some photographs document multiple projects. Do I duplicate the photograph of the Boeing NLA and the McDonnell Douglas MD-12 in the "Boeing NLA" topic and the "McDonnell Douglas MD-12" topic respectively or is this unnecessary duplication? It was not my intention to create more work for the moderators.

 

[Triton]

Plus there is a difference in image size for these photographs. hesham posted images that were 440 x 330 and I found 640 x 480 versions of these images. I am very frustrated.

 

[Stargazer]

I don't find it odd or unfit that the "wonderwall" gets a topic of its own; I think it deserves it!

Individual images could also be added to existing topics on the various projects. Not as duplicate attachments, but as linked images within a post (click on the thumb, then right-click on expanded image, save the URL of that image, then paste it in a post using the "insert image" button, the one below the bold type button).

 

[Jemiba]

First, many thanks to Donald for his efforts, especially as he didn't forget to add the captions. Really not to
be taken for ganted here ...
As most of you may already have noticed, the search function sometimes has a life on its own making it not
always that easy to find a thred or post, even if you have a vague idea, where it may be. I made some tests
and easily found the "Wonderwall" thread listed, when I looked for the 7E7 or NLA, strangely not when I typed
in 720 ... as said before, life on its own .... :-\
Those photos in most cases show more than just one type or project, so breaking them down to a more specific
topic would be hard either, at least without duplications. So I would propose to give this thread a more meaningful
title, so that somewhat searching, would be guided more easily to this thread. Maybe "Boeing Civil Project Models" ?
"Wonderwall"lof course sounds better, but who would click it, when looking for the Boeing 2707 ?
And there's no to be frustrated, I think, constructive criticsm should be a part of a every high-quality forum,
and is bon ton amongst highly competent people, I think.

 

[flateric]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11KUg4BZnbU

 

[sferrin]

It's a shame they don't have a section called "North American" and another called "McDonnell Douglas". :'(

 

[AL]

Where's the military stuff?

 

[Triton]

The Seattle metro area is Boeing Commercial Airplanes country. The local media only seems to be concerned with the part of Boeing's business that is assembled in Renton or Everett. We don't hear about Boeing's military or rotorcraft business because they aren't assembled in the Seattle metro area. If a North American Aviation or McDonnell Douglas section exists in the Boeing Archives, it would be unlikely that the local media would film it.

 

[500 Fan]

"If a North American Aviation or McDonnell Douglas section exists in the Boeing Archives, it would be unlikely that the local media would film it."

As far as I know, the Hughes Helicopters and McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Company stuff is held at the Boeing Archives in Seattle so it's possible the fixed-wing MD archives are there too. Finescale Modeller magazine ran an article on the Boeing Archives years ago and it contained lots of good information.

500 Fan.