T-Tail 757 Model from early 80s Boeing News
Posted by Strega007@reddit | aviation | View on Reddit | 27 comments
Going through boxes of old stuff and found this pic I clipped out of an early 80s edition of Boeing News of a model of the 757 when it was still going to be a T-tail.
prex10@reddit
767 was originally a Tri Jet as a fun fact. It's why all the systems are built around the center
Prodagist@reddit
The 777 was also originally going to be a trijet, as Boeing wasn't sure if a powerful enough engine would be able to be invented.
flightist@reddit
Goes to show the importance of timing. It’s an industry changing airplane that probably wouldn’t have been massively more successful than the MD-11 if Boeing had a different project timeline.
SkylineFTW97@reddit
McDonnel Douglas also has plans for a twin engined DC10 variant. Imagine if that succeeded and it was a 3 horse race for the 2 engine widebody market between it, the Airbus A300, and the Boeing 767.
ABoutDeSouffle@reddit
Probably would have killed Airbus, or at least prevented them from becoming such a big player.
RedNeckSharkBitten@reddit
I’ve been thinking of a large Boeing with a 717 style and powered by the larger engines currently used on the back.
FrustratedPCBuild@reddit
What is this, a plane for ants?
definitivgross@reddit
Testing the aerodynamic
SagittaryX@reddit
It’s just a meme
NF-104@reddit
Wind tunnel model.
9999AWC@reddit
I understood that reference
A3bilbaNEO@reddit
At that scale, probably mice.
Liftdevice299@reddit
He’s absolutely right
Taptrick@reddit
You mean late 70s for this T-tail configuration. They were manufacturing the first 757 prototype in 1981 and it flew it 1982.
Strega007@reddit (OP)
I'm aware of when the design was being considered. The newspaper it was in came from 1982-ish.
CPTMotrin@reddit
But in the end, the common two engines under the wing won out. 767 and 757 commonalities of design enabled type ratings for both models. Airlines loved that.
A3bilbaNEO@reddit
Not much use of a T-tail with wing-mounted engines, but i guess the intention of this setup was to save on development by using the existing design?
shit-shit-shit-shit-@reddit
757 and 727 share the same towbar linkage system
Either_Eggplant_1289@reddit
I read someplace that the 757 originally started as the 727-300, all that transferred in the end was the fuselage cross-section as they changed the cockpit windows, etc to make it “common” with the 767.
flightist@reddit
Interestingly (to total nerds like me) that fuselage cross-section includes the 727’s different lower fuselage profiles forward and aft of the wing.
Given that - as you say - they changed everything else, that 727 lineage is clear if you look close enough.
Stoney3K@reddit
I suspect so, to re-use the existing 727 tooling with 2 underwing engines.
Zapatos-Grande@reddit
This may have been from an early 80s Boeing magazine, but the T-tail was dropped by mid-1979. The design was locked in sometime during 1979/1980 as Final Assembly of the first prototype began in January of 1981.
ObservantOrangutan@reddit
Fascinating design. The ultimate 707/727 mashup.
Diarrhea_Donkey@reddit
I would have preferred three engines on the tail and two on the wings but this is okay too.
flightist@reddit
I don’t know if scale modellers still do kitbashes, but I’d be kind of curious what could be assembled out of the leftovers if one were to try to build this.
Figuring it could be made with a 757 and 727 kit, I’m imagining something very short and 737-esque, but with the 57’s nose and even less ground clearance for the engines.
Pretty_Aside_7674@reddit
I wonder where this wind tunnel t tailed model of the 757 is
mz_groups@reddit
Flutter testing model of an early proposed 757 configuration.