Originally Posted by
Caveman
Hint-Why would Boeing who as a public traded company, beholden to shareholders, decide to invest Millions of dollars into this if it had no immediate merit or value? The answer...they wouldn't.
Yes, they would and they do. Large companies often do R&D on the fringes of technology for the same reason that automotive companies go racing. It is a form of training for young engineers, it might throw off some technology that is useful on the real products, it generates publicity and.... you never know.
Are any of those blended wing/fuselage designs headed for production? How about that swing wing airliner? How are Boeing's SST projects doing?