The "Grandfather's Axe" and fighter design.
The familiar Boeing 707 A comment on my last post got me thinking... "Just what constitutes an 'all new' aircraft design?" When it comes down to it, an aircraft's purpose dictates its shape. Passenger airliners are all designed with efficiency in mind. This leads to the almost identical shape of a long tube for carrying passengers in pressurized comfort, swept wings to provide a quick cruising speed, and engines mounted in nacelles for easy maintenance. This general shape originated on the first really successful airliner, the Boeing 707, first flown almost 60 years ago. Different sizes, but familiar design. Airbus A380 (top) and Embraer E-170 While over 50 years of development has brought us new construction techniques, new engine technology, and new materials, modern airliners still resemble the classic 707. They might be of a different size, with fewer engines, but the layout is still pretty much the same, whether it's a massive 5...