You can rely on a new aircraft concept to make aviation pulses step up a gear, and so here's the latest from the quiet-enviro-propfan patent shed, courtesy of Boeing.
If you want to read the full blurb then you can find it here, but the highlights include a forward-swept wing - which could be greater than 15°, to aid shielding of noise - plus a rearward extension of the central wing section with trailing-edge pitch control, twin vertical stabilisers and forward-mounted canards.
"The position of the engines above the wings, and not connected to the wings, allows air over the wings to pass freely," the patent says. "This may maximise lift production of the wings without undue interference from the engines."
Canards, mounted either above or below the longitudinal axis, would provide additional lift at the front of the aircraft, it adds: "The canard design, in particular the span, may be chosen such that the tip vortex is not ingested into the propulsor under nominal airport noise conditions."
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