The Bizarre Rear-Fan Engine That Killed The World’s Fastest Airliner

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, airliners and their engines were still taking shape. History had yet to decide which competing engineering solutions and pathways would define aviation’s future. At the time, it was unclear if the future was supersonic airliners (e.g., Concorde) or turbofans with aft-fans. Modern analogues include the future of blended wing bodies (e.g., JetZero), the return of supersonic airliners (e.g., Boom Supersonic), open-fan engines (e.g., CFM RISE), and hybrid engines.