Boeing has shown for the first time a new transonic truss-braced wing (TTBW) airliner concept which it says would fly higher and faster than previous ultra-efficient airliner concepts.
The company says the concept, which features a high-mounted thin anhedral wing with a wingspan of 51.9 metres, twin underslung turbofan engines, low-mounted aerofoils on both sides which meets the main wing at roughly half span, and a conventional T-tail, provides “unprecedented aerodynamic efficiency while flying at Mach 0.80″.
The original TTBW concept was designed for lower airspeeds of Mach 0.70 to 0.75, but this latest concept features a mild sweep which allows for higher airspeeds. Boeing says the new concept is “a more integrated design that significantly improved vehicle performance.”
The TTBW was developed in conjunction with the NASA Ames Research Center where Boeing and NASA have been researching the Subsonic Ultra Green Aircraft Research (SUGAR) program since 2009.
