"Some people were saying, 'Gee, Northrop has the more futuristic looking plane.' But it wasn't a beauty contest". Indeed, Rice identified two factors as playing a role in the decision: cost and the firms' past performance on contracts.
Plans call for a "Sky Lifter" plane to carry the Cruiser, which looks and lands like a futuristic airplane, to 12 kilometers up and launch it in midair.
In late 2002, Boeing canceled another airplane, the Sonic Cruiser, a futuristic-looking plane that was supposed to travel at close to the speed of sound.
Futuristic concept planes feature virtual reality screens instead of windows, while space leisure travel draws closer thanks to investment from the likes of Elon Musk's SpaceX company, and Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic.
But a series of smaller, challenging projects perhaps modeled after prize competitions for developing "disruptive" technologies, or Lockheed Martin's famed "Skunk Works" facility that pioneered futuristic spy planes and supersonic aircraft could help build esprit de corps, he says.
The Boeing Company said yesterday that it was scrapping plans to build a futuristic high-speed plane called the Sonic Cruiser in favor of designing a fuel-efficient aircraft.
[C4.] Boeing Scraps High-Speed Plane Boeisg iscrappingng plans to build a futuristic, high-speed plane called the Sonic Cruiser in favor of designing a fuel-efficient aircraft.
Correction: December 24 , 2002 Tuesday An article in Business Day on Saturday about the scrapping of plans by the Boeing Company to build a futuristic high-speed plane referred incorrectly to the company's 777 jet.
The idea was to sell smart glass -- or smart plastic -- to other companies that would then install these futuristic windows in planes, cars, trucks, office buildings and homes.
