Supersonic

Speaking of the world of tomorrow, here is something that was promised in our future, but never came to be. In the early '60s, the US embarked on a competition to build a civilian supersonic transport. Both Lockheed and Boeing submitted designs, with the latter being awarded a contract in 1966. The initial design, however was deemed to heavy to fly. A new concept was unveiled, but pressure from environmental groups, and a cutoff of funding from the the US Congress doomed the program (which was cancelled in 1971).

The full scale mockup of the 2707-300 was purchased from Boeing, and was transported to a site in Kissimmee, Florida. A small museum opened with the mockup as its centerpiece, along with other hardware. I visited the museum in the fall of 1980.

Visitors could walk through the entire length of the fuselage and up to the cockpit. All of the seating, and most of the instrumentation, however, was stripped out.


Due to the immense size of the mockup, the tail actually protruded from the roof, and could be seen from the outside.

The Florida museum eventually closed. A portion of the mockup (i.e. the restored nose and cockpit section) is now on display at the Hiller Aviation Museum in California.