Boeing's X-48B Blended-Wing Body Plane Preps for First Tests

Published: Mar 19, 2007
Source: money.cnn.com



(Business 2.0) -- -- It would be a dream come true for the airline industry: A plane that uses up to 30 percent less gas to reach its destination, compared with today's jets.

That's the promise of the blended-wing, a radically new kind of aircraft set to take to the skies for the first time this month. Originally conceived by McDonnell Douglas and developed by NASA, the blended-wing merges fuselage and wings and eliminates the tail, reducing drag. That makes it vastly more fuel-efficient than regular "tube-and-wing" jets, according to Boeing (Charts) engineer Norm Princen.

The X-48B Prototype During Wind Tunnel Tests @ NASA

» Read the X-48B BWB Factsheet for more info!continue..