Delta Airlines Boeing 757 -200 N713TW ie Trans World... L1170790
Caught on a cool autumn day. Boeing shut this production line rather than upgrading the 757, which in hindsight seems like the first hint that they'd lost their way. The 757 was a 707-720-727-737-like fuselage with the old-school 727 triple turbofan engines replaced by a pair of high-bypass turbofans,
The 727 wing was remarkably advanced, for the early 1960s able to lift the airliner out of short runways like NYC's La Guardia and then reconfigure itself for high speed cruise, before reconfiguring again to land on short runways at their destination. The 3 jet design with the engines back in the tail assisted by adding no engine or pylon drag to the wing. The VC-10 and Tu-154 used the same setup.
The 757 got a new, supercritical wing with with 15-18 years further aerodynamic and structural refinement over the 727. It also got longer landing gear to allow large diameter turbofans under the wings. The first order for one was placed in 1978, the first flight was 1982. The production line was closed not long after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, because the 20+ year old design wasn't competitive with the Airbus 321, a 10 years newer design, which has itself be upgraded to the "neo" form with significantly improved engines 16 years later.
Boeing concentrated money and resources on upgrading the 737 to its "NG" third generation (The MAXs are a fourth generation) and stretching the 777. Single aisle "narrow body" airliners larger than the 737 were neglected, and Airbus ran away with that segment of the market.
The 767, numbered higher, went into service before the 757 and would have needed its own redesign to have stayed in production. The 1 aisle vs 2 aisle designs have different aerodynamics and different passenger number sweet-spots.
The cold facts are, with 737, 747 and 777 available, Boeing had NO airplane with more than 225 but less than 300 seats, and a range around 4000-4400 miles. The 787 hits the high end, 248, 290 or 330 seats, 7300-7600-6300 mile range. The A321 offers 180 to 244 seats, range around 4000 miles. Boeing walked away from that market.
Delta Airlines Boeing 757 -200 N713TW ie Trans World... L1170790
Caught on a cool autumn day. Boeing shut this production line rather than upgrading the 757, which in hindsight seems like the first hint that they'd lost their way. The 757 was a 707-720-727-737-like fuselage with the old-school 727 triple turbofan engines replaced by a pair of high-bypass turbofans,
The 727 wing was remarkably advanced, for the early 1960s able to lift the airliner out of short runways like NYC's La Guardia and then reconfigure itself for high speed cruise, before reconfiguring again to land on short runways at their destination. The 3 jet design with the engines back in the tail assisted by adding no engine or pylon drag to the wing. The VC-10 and Tu-154 used the same setup.
The 757 got a new, supercritical wing with with 15-18 years further aerodynamic and structural refinement over the 727. It also got longer landing gear to allow large diameter turbofans under the wings. The first order for one was placed in 1978, the first flight was 1982. The production line was closed not long after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, because the 20+ year old design wasn't competitive with the Airbus 321, a 10 years newer design, which has itself be upgraded to the "neo" form with significantly improved engines 16 years later.
Boeing concentrated money and resources on upgrading the 737 to its "NG" third generation (The MAXs are a fourth generation) and stretching the 777. Single aisle "narrow body" airliners larger than the 737 were neglected, and Airbus ran away with that segment of the market.
The 767, numbered higher, went into service before the 757 and would have needed its own redesign to have stayed in production. The 1 aisle vs 2 aisle designs have different aerodynamics and different passenger number sweet-spots.
The cold facts are, with 737, 747 and 777 available, Boeing had NO airplane with more than 225 but less than 300 seats, and a range around 4000-4400 miles. The 787 hits the high end, 248, 290 or 330 seats, 7300-7600-6300 mile range. The A321 offers 180 to 244 seats, range around 4000 miles. Boeing walked away from that market.