Lockheed proposed two L-2000 models: the intercontinental L-2000-7A, which could carry up to 266 passengers, and the domestic L-2000-7B, which could accommodate up to 308
The amazing images in this post, which first appeared in Code One Magazine, show the Lockheed L-2000, a concept plane for the US Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Supersonic Transport, or SST, program.
Lockheed was one of the two companies selected in June 1964 to carry on with the SST development. The wooden mockup of the Lockheed L-2000, which is depicted in the first image, would have had a 4,000-mile range and Mach 3 cruise speeds. It had a double delta wing configuration for quick transonic acceleration and superb control at low speeds. The L-2000-7A, an intercontinental variant with room for up to 266 passengers, and the somewhat larger L-2000-7B, with room for 308 passengers, were the two designs Lockheed presented.
The second image, on the other hand, was shot in 1965 and shows workers setting up a large-scale model of the Lockheed L-2000 design for a ground plane test in the 40 by 80-foot wind tunnel at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California.
In order to compete with the then-under-construction Soviet Tu-144 and the Anglo-French Concorde, President John F. Kennedy committed in 1961 to have the government pay 75% of the development of a commercial airliner. Najeeb Halaby, the director of FAA, decided against directly competing with the Concorde in favor of enhancing its design. The SST was designed to transport 250 passengers (a huge amount at the time, more than twice as many as Concorde), fly at Mach 2.7–3.0, and have a range of 4,000 km. It may have represented a significant improvement over the Concorde (7,400 km).
The FAA predicted there would be a market for 500 SSTs by 1990 when the program was established on June 5, 1963. Official responses came from North America, Lockheed, and Boeing. The Boeing and Lockheed concepts were chosen for further investigation whereas North America’s design was quickly discarded.
Ultimately, the Boeing 2707 prevailed over the L-2000.
However a combination of environmental, economic, and political factors led to the cancellation of the American SST program in 1971.
Photo by Lockheed Martin
