I think GZYL described it quite nicely. Those new engines won’t show up anytime soon. GE and P&W would not be able to afford it even if they wanted to.
The only thing that might bring these engines here anytime soon is if the USAF has a requirment for them. In that case the engines will be developed (largely) at the cost of Uncle Sam.
Now imagine the USAF has the engine, problem then is that there will also be a plane that’s going to be attached to the new engine. A plane that will likely be a black project for at least a few years.
Because of the “black plane” the USAF will not allow the engine to enter the civilian market. If suddenly a high-tech engine pops up in the US seemingly out of nowhere, everyone with half a brain will know the origins of it and will realise there is more than meets the eye.
And I did not even mention the problems Europe might give if a (largely) US funded engine pops up. Dishonest competition to RR and SNECMA!
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Perhaps a bit of topic, but of interest none-the-less.
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I think that both planes look ugly, each in their own way. At the moment I am not going to guess who will be more succesful.
The 7E7 will sell more because there is a larger markter for planes of that size. The A380 will likely sell with a larger profit margin because there is no competition (the 747 is still smaller than the basic A380 and a lot smaller than some of the proposed versions of the A380). The 747 sold in smaller numbers than the 767 and the A330 combined, still nobody calls it an unsuccesful plane!
One thing I thought of, what if Airbus cross-subsidizes its product with the extra profit that MIGHT be made. Maybe they could sell the A330 for less money, or do a massive upgrade of the A330 (a la A34-500/600). This would affect the 7E7 sales, maybe not a lot but still.
Boeing has done the same for donkey’s years. The 747 at one time or another cross subsidized almost every airliner Boeing made!
Sorry this topic got so long.
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