AVIATIONPage 432September 4, 1995 DAILY MCDONNELL Eyes Blended Wing Body Research Aircraft McDonnell Douglas hopes NASA will support its ideas for a blended wi-ng body (BWB) transport--able to carry some 800 passengers at a fraction of today's cost--with a program to build an X-plane research aircraft that could start in 1998. Designers in Long Beach, Calif., one year into a three-year, $3 million NASA/industry/ university program to come up with design concepts for the new aircraft, told The DAILY they see significant interest at NASA in funding part of an X-designated BWB aircraft for flight research. Researchers envision an aircraft design closer to a flying wing than a conventional fuselage and wing, and a research aircraft is needed to understand its aerodynamics and flying characteristics, said Robert Liebeck, a senior fellow at McDonnell Douglas Aerospace's Advanced Transport Aircraft. "You wind up with the same takeoff gross weight as a 747, carrying twice as many passengers, and for half the fuel," he said. The total gross takeoff weight of a BWB transport is estimated to be 13% less than that of a conventional configuration, but the lift-to-drag ratio would be 35% higher and the fuel burn nearly one-third less. Two decks would carry 800 passengers about 7,000 nautical miles at the conventional 0.85 Mach. Engines would be buried aft, and doors and panoramic windows would be in the leading edge. Return to Sept. 20, 1995 letter