Boeing Wins Supersonic Showdown with Ambitious Design

The American SST program was launched in 1963 by President Kennedy to develop a supersonic airliner that could compete with the Anglo-French Concorde. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) chose Boeing's design, the Boeing 2707, over Lockheed's L-2000. Lockheed spent eight years developing its aircraft, which had a double-delta wing design and was intended to carry 250 passengers at Mach 2.7 to 3.0.

The FAA judged the Lockheed L-2000 as simpler to produce and less risky than Boeing's design, but its performance during takeoff and at high speed was slightly lower. The deciding factor was ambition - the government chose the riskier aircraft on purpose because it wanted to outdo Concorde. Unfortunately for Lockheed, Boeing's winning 2707 had an advanced variable-geometry wing that proved unworkably heavy, and it abandoned it in favor of a fixed delta wing similar to Lockheed's.

The American SST program was ultimately canceled in 1971 due to lack of funding. The FAA estimated a market for 500 supersonic airliners by 1990, but only 14 Concordes entered airline service during this time. Meanwhile, the L-2000 design that was quieter, cheaper, and easier to build than its competitor remains largely forgotten.