The Boeing NLA, or New Large Airplane, was a 1990s concept for an all-new
quadjet
A four-engined jet, sometimes called a quadjet, is a jet aircraft powered by four Jet engine, engines. The presence of four engines offers increased power, allowing such aircraft to be used as airliners, Cargo aircraft, freighters, and military a ...
airliner in the 500+ seat market.
Somewhat larger than the
747, this aircraft was similar in concept to the
McDonnell Douglas MD-12
The McDonnell Douglas MD-12 was a large wide-body airliner concept planned by the McDonnell Douglas company in the 1990s. It was first conceived as a trijet larger than the MD-11, then stretched to a quadjet airliner. It was to be similar in ...
and later
Airbus A380
The Airbus A380 is a large wide-body airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and only full-length double-deck jet airliner.
Airbus studies started in 1988, and the project was annou ...
. In 1993, Boeing chose not to pursue development of this concept, focusing instead on the Boeing 747-500X and -600X, and then on the 747X and 747X Stretch, and subsequently on the
Boeing 747-8
The Boeing 747-8 is a wide-body airliner formerly developed by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, and the largest variant of the 747.
After introducing the 747-400, Boeing considered larger 747 versions as alternatives to the proposed double-deck Ai ...
. The project names for this aircraft were NLA and Boeing 763-246C.
Specifications (NLA, as designed)
Source: ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer''
History
The Boeing New Large Airplane was one of several projects started by
Boeing
The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...
in the late 20th century as a way to compete with rival aircraft corporations like
Airbus
Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace manufacturer, aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft througho ...
. The Airbus A380 project began to be publicized in 1990 in order to try and turn the commercial aviation market away from the then very prevalent Boeing 747. Boeing sought to combat this and began working up designs for the NLA at some point in the early 1990s, with a scheduled service entry date of before 2000 in order to beat Airbus to the punch.
The goal of the NLA project was to create an airplane capable of traveling primarily long-haul routes and carrying vast amounts of passengers or cargo. At the time of design, twinjet aircraft were not considered suitable for transpacific flights, so the NLA was designed with a four-jet layout (two on each wing), much like the 747 or A380.
Long-haul flights such as
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
to
Dubai
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
or
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
to
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
can take anywhere from 8 to 14 hours. The four engines would help provide the power necessary to make these long trips safely. Because the project was designed with the goal of beating competitors based on sheer passenger volume, the NLA was designed with a full-length two deck configuration. This would allow for 600–1000 passengers (depending on airline and class seating configurations), about 50 more passengers than the A380 per configuration.
However, after only a few years of working on the project, Boeing decided that the NLA model was unsustainable with the way the commercial aviation market was trending. Instead of larger, higher capacity aircraft with the ability to make long hub-to-hub routes in a single go, Boeing decided the future was in smaller, more direct flights. As a result, they cancelled the NLA project to focus on 747 expansion models.
See also
References
Abandoned civil aircraft projects of the United States
NLA
Quadjets
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