A-12 Avenger, the aborted McDonnell Douglas/General Dynamics product and scourge of the legal system, sits on display inside the Prologue Room of Boeing's defence headquarters in St. Louis. As you may have gathered, yesterday's stop on the Boeing pre-Paris Air Show media tour was the home of an aerospace company once owned by James S. McDonnell. I've been whisked through the Prologue Room several times over the years, but this is the first time I've ever spotted the A-12 model.
That wasn't the only surprise aircraft concept glimpsed during this media tour.
As I tweeted yesterday, I saw a digital image of A new single-engine, two-seat jet with YF-23-like shallow V-tails in the grey-on-white paint scheme of Air Education Training Command. But Boeing repeatedly assured me the image is not THE new aircraft concept for Boeing's secret T-X trainer proposal. The image was the icon representing the flight path of a simulated aircraft on the screen of the control operator's station for Boeing's next generation simulator -- the 20/40 visual-acuity constant resolution visual system (CRVS). It appeared to be the standard icon used for the CRVS. No photography was allowed inside the facility, alas, and Boeing declined to release a picture of the digital icon. It's a pity. Even if it wasn't the company's basis for a clean-sheet T-X proposal, it was a great-looking little aircraft!
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