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

Posted on: Mar. 19th, 2007 || Source: money.cnn.com | E-mail Article | Print Article

(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!

Read the full article

• Red Flag exercises slated for July and August
• Raptors set to deploy to Guam
• Testing studies Global Hawk's electromagnetic profile
• Pratt & Whitney Awarded UCAS-D Contract
• Pratt & Whitney F135 Engine Exceeds 10,000 SDD Ground Test Hours
• New C-130J Configurations And Technologies Unveiled At Farnborough
• Northrop Completes Environmental Testing of New B-2 Bomber Radar
• Northrop E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Achieves 125th Flight Milestone
• Russia's Sukhoi to produce Su-35 fighter up to 2020
• BAE Systems and UK MOD Announce Mantis UAS Demonstrator Programme
• BAE Systems Unveils Production Standard HERTI
• Northrop Tanker Team Will Complete All Four Tanker Airframes in 2009
• Raytheon Introduces new version of its AESA radar
• Northrop Grumman Statement Regarding DoD Tanker Decision
• Boeing Statement on Pentagon Decision to Reopen KC-X Tanker Bid