McDonnell Douglas MD-12
| MD-12 | |
|---|---|
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| A computer graphics rendering of the proposed MD-12, a full double-decker configuration concept | |
| Role | Double-decker wide-body aircraft |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | McDonnell Douglas |
| Status | Design study, canceled |
The McDonnell Douglas MD-12 was an aircraft design study undertaken by the McDonnell Douglas company in the 1990s for a "superjumbo" aircraft, first conceived as a larger trijet, then stretched to a 4-engine airliner. It was to be similar in size to the Boeing 747, but with more passenger capacity. However, the MD-12 received no orders and was canceled. McDonnell Douglas then studied larger MD-11 derivatives named MD-XX without proceeding.
McDonnell Douglas studied improved, stretched versions of the trijet MD-11, named MD-12X with a possible lower-front passenger deck with panoramic windows. The MDC board of directors agreed in October 1991 to offer the MD-12X design to airlines. MD-12X had a length of 237 ft 11 in (72.5 m) and wingspan of 212 ft 6 in (64.8 m). In November 1991, McDonnell Douglas and Taiwan Aerospace Corporation signed a Memorandum of Understanding to form a company to produce the new design. The new company would have McDonnell Douglas as the majority shareholder (51%) with Taiwan Aerospace (40%) and other Asian companies (9%) having the remaining shares.
In late 1991, McDonnell Douglas made a move to separate its civil and military divisions in a bid to raise the estimated $4 billion development costs needed to develop the MD-12X trijet. Separating the costly military C-17 airlifter development, which had been a drain on the company's resources, from the profit-making production of the MD-80 and MD-11 airliners would make it easier to attract foreign investors for the MD-12X.
The design grew into the much larger MD-12 with four engines and two passenger decks extending the length of the fuselage. The length of the main MD-12 variants was 208 ft (63.4 m) with a wingspan of 213 ft (64.9 m). The fuselage was 24 ft 3 in (7.39 m) wide by 27 ft 11 in (8.51 m) high.
McDonnell Douglas unveiled its MD-12 design in April 1992. The design was similar in concept to the Airbus A3XX and Boeing NLA, and it would have been larger than the Boeing 747 with which it would have directly competed. Douglas Aircraft had also studied a smaller double-decker design in the 1960s.
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