more than 30 feet (9 meters) wider than the span of the 777. It is greater than the wingspan of the 747-8. The new wing also will have 45 percent more area than the composite wing on the 787 Dreamliner. The 777X, which recently completed the first phase of high-speed wind-tunnel testing, is incorporating material and design lessons from the 787, as well as from the 777—the first Boeing jetliner to include a composite vertical fin and horizontal stabilizer. “It’s fun for me to be working on a composite wing on this airplane, which builds on that technology we first worked with on the original 777,” said Jess Trostle, engineering leader on the 777X wing design team. Trostle and other engineers designing the new airplane recalled that the 777, which entered airline service in 1995, was initially considered “too large a leap in technology” by some because of its innovations. Among other things, it was the first commercial airplane designed entirely on computers; the first two-engine jetliner designed to fly on long-haul international routes, thanks to the largest jet engines ever developed; and Boeing’s first fly-by-wire commercial aircraft. The 777X also will introduce features new to commercial airplanes, but those will be combined with proven materials and design elements, said Bob Feldmann, Commercial Airplanes vice president and general manager for the 777X. “The 777X is a huge leap in capability 20 Frontiers March 2014
Frontiers March 2014 Issue
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