Was a two in the wings, two in the tail engine configuration ever considered?

[Graham1973]

A while back I read a novel called Passengers (Michael Laurence, Thomas Foxworth), which I think was a failed film script written in an attempt to exploit the DC-10 saga (It also goes after Carbon Fiber and Fly-by-wire). While the fictional airliner is only vaguely described one thing that did stand out was the engine configuration. Two engines in the wings and two mounted at the tail (so I'm guessing the aircraft was a T-tail), which was chosen so the authors could have their planes go down in flames shedding carbon fiber all the way down..

Does anyone know if such an engine configuration was ever seriously considered for a commercial airliner?

Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Passengers-Thomas-Foxworth/dp/1557850801/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1298425259&sr=1-1

 

[Apophenia]

Re: Was a two in the wings, two in the tail engine configuration ever considered

...
Does anyone know if such an engine configuration was ever seriously considered for a commercial airliner?

Yes ... although how "seriously considered" it was, I don't know. Boeing released artwork in the early '70s of a high-subsonic, long-range airliner with twin-tail mounted engines under a T-tail and another two engines mounted well outboard on its supercritical wings. Like many other such studies, this was branded as a '767'.

ref: Air Enthusiast, Oct 1971, p.229

 

[Graham1973]

Re: Was a two in the wings, two in the tail engine configuration ever considered

...
Does anyone know if such an engine configuration was ever seriously considered for a commercial airliner?

Yes ... although how "seriously considered" it was, I don't know. Boeing released artwork in the early '70s of a high-subsonic, long-range airliner with twin-tail mounted engines under a T-tail and another two engines mounted well outboard on its supercritical wings. Like many other such studies, this was branded as a '767'.

ref: Air Enthusiast, Oct 1971, p.229

Boeing!

Managed to find a picture over at the Flight International archive, and while I've not been able to locate my copy of Passengers yet, it's a close match to what I can remember from the novel.

Check out the Boeing Transport and 767 threads for the picture.

 

[starviking]

If you consider engines in the wing-roots as "in the wing", then the Hawker-Siddley Type 1011 Supersonic VG airliner fits the bill

http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,2734.msg21857.html#msg21857

 

[Apophenia]

Re: Was a two in the wings, two in the tail engine configuration ever considered

Managed to find a picture over at the Flight International archive ...

Good find Graham. That's the same image reproduced by Air Enthusiast.