I've just read an article about the Boeing 797 and was wondering whether anyone else had heard anything about this aircraft?
"Boeing is planning a 1000 passenger jet that could reshape the Air travel industry for the next 100 years. The radical Blended wing design has been developed by Boeing in cooperation with the NASA Langley Research Center. The mammoth plane will have a wing span of 265 feet compared to the 747's 211 feet, and is designed to fit within the newly created terminals used for the 555 seat Airbus A380, which is 262 feet wide. The new 797 is in direct response to the Airbus A380 which has racked up 159 orders, but has not yet flown any passengers.
Boeing decided to kill its 747X stretched super jumbo in 2003 after little interest was shown by airline companies, but has continued to develop the ultimate Airbus crusher 797 for years at its Phantom works research facility in Long Beach California..."
http://www.newtechspy.com/articles06/boeing797.html
When I can get a full electronic version of the statement I'll post it but the rest just goes on to berate Airbus a little and talk about some advantages to the blended wing design.
Prior to today I had no idea that Boeing was planning this. Is it another smoke screen like the sonic cruiser? (though that one was obviously a ploy)