Boeing 767-611
The Boeing 767-611 was a new large-capacity airliner configuration proposed in 1972 by United States aircraft manufacturer Boeing, partly as a replacement for their four-engine Boeing 747, and partially as a higher-speed improvement.
During the 1960s, jet airliners had been introduced worldwide, bringing fast long-range travel within the reach of the majority of the traveling public. Traveling at around 75 percent of the speed of sound, they halved the enroute times for travel. However, by the 1970s, even greater speeds were seen as possible, although the "sound barrier" still remained a logistical problem, greatly increasing the power required to approach Mach 1.
Boeing engineers proposed increasing the cruise speed of their new aircraft by employing three aft-fuselage-mounted turbofan engines (as with their popular Boeing 727), a supercritical wing, and area-rule fuselage. The fuselage would be wide enough for two aisles (except across the narrow section at the wing-mounting area). Projected maximum cruise speed would be Mach 0.98 at 41,000 feet (647 miles per hour).
In 1972 the average cost of jet fuel was low, around $0.11 per US gallon; thus the projected high fuel consumption of the -611 was of little concern. However, the 1973 oil crisis dramatically changed the situation; by 1974 prices had climbed to $1.10, and it was obvious to Boeing management that further development of the -611 was not warranted. The investigation was ended in late 1974; by 1976 the 767 designation was being used to describe Boeing's development of a more conventional widebody twin-engined airliner.
References
- [1] Slattery, Chad. Wasteful Wasp-Waister - The History of Boeing in 15 Objects, Air & Space/Smithsonian, August 2016 (with picture of preliminary model)
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