The McDonnell Douglas MD-94X was a planned propfan-powered airliner, intended to begin production in 1994. The aircraft was to seat between 160 and 180 passengers in an unknown seating configuration. An all-new design, it was developed in the late 1980s to compete with the similar Boeing 7J7. Configuration was similar to the MD-80, but advanced technologies such as canard noseplanes, laminar and turbulent boundary layer control, side-stick flight control (via fiber optics), and aluminum-lithium alloy construction were under consideration. Airline interest in the brand-new propfan technology was weak despite claims of up to a 60% reduction in fuel use, and both aircraft were cancelled. Also cancelled was its military counterpart, the McDonnell Douglas P-9D, intended for use by the United States Navy.
Under development at the same time were two propfan variants of the MD-80. The "MD-91X" would have seated 100-110 and entered service in 1991, and the "MD-92X" was to seat 150 and enter service in 1992. Existing DC-9s and MD-80s would also have been eligible for an upgrade to the new propfan powerplants.
Famous quotes containing the word douglas:
“For here the lover and killer are mingled
who had one body and one heart.
And death who had the soldier singled
has done the lover mortal hurt.”
—Keith Douglas (1920–1944)