At the 2023 EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, NASA and Boeing unveiled a livery for their X-66A.
With the vision to bring sustainable flight to airlines globally, the X-66A featuring a Transonic Truss-Braced Wing design will be essential in understanding what the future holds for aircraft.
At the airshow attended by enthusiasts, a livery was revealed for the X-66A, which features three prominent colours, red, orange and light blue in that order on the tail and moving down the backend of the fuselage.
The first flight of a full-scale demonstrator will hopefully take place in 2028, and this will be backed by funding from NASA, Boeing and partners that exceed USD 1 billion.
While unclear now, there is a strong consensus and vision that, if successful, such a type of demonstrator could eventually become a viable option for commercial flying with airlines as the next era of flight, one that’s even more sustainable.
Such a TTBW design could see fuel consumption and emissions slashed by 30% further over what is in airlines fleets nowadays, a significant increase needed if airlines are to meet sustainability goals.
U.S. airlines last week emerged as supporters of the program. Noting they would share valuable insight and general feedback better to understand its compatibility within fleets, airports and more. Additionally, it’ll only help NASA and Boeing with the future of such a plane potentially in the industry.
Thanks for sharing the pic of the new livery on the new commercial transport. I wish it were different. It is sorta retro.