McDonnell Douglas MD-94X

MD-94X
Role	Airliner
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	McDonnell Douglas
Status	Cancelled project
Number built	None
Developed from	McDonnell Douglas MD-80

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.

See also

Related development

• McDonnell Douglas MD-90
  

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

• Boeing 7J7
• Airbus A320
  

References

• Propfan progress, excerpt from NASA Spinoff magazine

External links

• "Whatever happened to propfans?", Flight International, June 12, 2007
• "Green sky thinking - carbon credits and the propfan comeback?" Flight International, June 12, 2007