The Bombardier CRJ (Canadair Regional Jet) is a family of regional airliner manufactured by Bombardier, and based on the Canadair Challenger business jet. Design studies began in 1987, with the first prototype flying on May 10, 1991.
Because the CRJ project began at Canadair prior to its 1986 acquisition by Bombardier, the CRJ is sometimes also referred to by its original Canadair designation "CL-65". This legacy designation can still be found on some Comair in-flight safety cards.
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Showing posts with label Aircraft List. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Aircraft List. Show all posts
August 04, 2007
Bombardier CRJ (Canadair Regional Jet)
July 31, 2007
Fairey Jet Gyrodyne helicopter
The Jet Gyrodyne was a modification of the second prototype Fairey Gyrodyne aircraft registered G-AJJP. The Jet Gyrodyne was built specifically to develop the pressure-jet rotor drive system used on the later Fairey Rotodyne. The appearance of the Jet Gyrodyne is part way between a small aeroplane and a helicopter. A helicopter-type cabin is the front of the aircraft. The engine, an Alvis Leonides 9 cylinder radial, is in the middle of the fuselage. Above the engine is a two bladed rotor. There is a simple tailplane with no tail rotor as might be expected on a helicopter. Two short wings carry rear facing wingtip propellors and also the main wheels of the tricyle undercarriage.
The engine performs two functions; the first is to power, through gearboxes, the two wingtip propellors, the second is to drive two superchargers (taken from Rolls-Royce Merlin engines) whose output goes up through the rotor blades and exhausts through jets at the tips of the rotors. At the jets the compressed air is mixed with fuel and burnt to give more power. As this means of powering the rotor gave no reaction torque, a separate tail rotor was not needed. The rotor jets could be used to power the rotor for vertical takeoff and landing and for the rest of the time, the rotor would autorotate like an autogyro giving lift but not needing power while the forward drive came from the wingtip propellors.
The Fairey Jet Gyrodyne was a British experimental compound autogyro built by the Fairey Aviation Company that incorporated helicopter, gyrodyne and autogyro characteristics. The Jet Gyrodyne was the subject of a Ministry of Supply research contract to gather data for the follow-up design, the Fairey Rotodyne.
Tethered flights at White Waltham were followed by the first free flight in January 1954, but a full transition from vertical to horizontal flight was not achieved until March 1955. System proving continued and by September 1956, 190 transitions and 140 autorotative landings had been completed.
Although scheduled for scrapping in 1961, the Jet Gyrodyne (serial XD759 later XJ389) survived and today is displayed at the Museum of Berkshire Aviation, on loan from the RAF Museum collection.
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Fairey FB-1 Gyrodyne helicopter
In April 1946 Fairey announced a private-venture project for a rotary-wing aircraft, to be built to a new concept originated by Dr. J.A.J. Bennett who had joined the company the previous year. Dr Bennett had assumed control of the Cierva Autogyro Company in 1936, following the death of Juan de la Cierva, and Bennett's ideas were based on the combination of a lifting rotor plus an asymmetric propeller mounted on a stub wing, which would counteract yaw and provide thrust, lessening the loading on the rotor.
Fairey FB-1 Gyrodyne helicopter was a British experimental compound aircraft used a propeller set on the end of a stub wing to provide both propulsion and antitorque reaction.
The Gyrodyne was a compact and streamlined helicopter weighing just over 2000kg and powered by a 525hp Alvis Leonides radial engine, the power from which could be transmitted in variable ratios to a three-blade rotor just over 15m in diameter and to the anti-torque propeller on the starboard tip of the stub wing. The Gyrodyne behaved like a helicopter, but the same propeller also provided the necessary thrust for forward flight, when the aircraft looked almost like an autogyro.
A government contract to Specification E.4/46 was awarded for two prototypes with the first Fairey Gyrodyne exhibited as an almost complete airframe at White Waltham on 7 December 1946.
On 4 December 1947, the first of the two prototypes took off from White Waltham airport, and continued to build up flying time until March 1948 when it was dismantled for a thorough examination. The second prototype, basically similar to the first but with more comfortable interior furnishings befitting its role as a passenger demonstrator, was flying by the time of the next SBAC Display, in September 1948, at Farnborough. The first prototype was re-assembled and, following further test flying, took part in an attempt to set a new world's helicopter speed record in a straight line.
On 28 June 1948, flown by test pilot Basil Arkell, the Gyrodyne made two flights in each direction over a 3km course at White Waltham, achieving 200km/h, enough to secure the record. An attempt was to be made in April 1949 to set a 100km closed-circuit record, but two days before the date selected a rotor head fatigue failure resulted in the crash of the aircraft at Ufton, near Reading, killing the pilot, F.H. Dixon and his observer.
The subsequent grounding of the second Gyrodyne for an investigation was only to be expected, and the aircraft did not appear again until 1953. The extensively modified second prototype, renamed Jet Gyrodyne, flew in January 1954; it had two blade-tip jets, fed with air from two compressors driven by the usual Alvis Leonides radial. The Jet Gyrodyne had been completely redesigned to provide data on Fairey's big project, the Fairey Rotodyne.
An example of the Gyrodyne is on display at the Museum of Berkshire Aviation, Woodley, Reading.
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July 28, 2007
Cessna CH-1 helicopter
Cessna Aircraft Company acquired the Seibel Helicopter Company (pronounced "See-bull") of Wichita, Kansas on 14 January 1952 through a stock swap with Seibel investors. All equipment from the Seibel Helicopter Company, including the Seibel S-4B, was moved to Cessna's Pawnee Plant in Wichita and work began on the CH-1 design during the summer of 1952. Charles Seibel, who became the new Helicopter Division's chief designer as part of the acquisition, believed that the S-4B with a Cessna body would make an excellent helicopter. Cessna pilots test flew Seibel's S-4B for several months to familiarize the engineers with helicopters, and then it was scrapped.
A quarter-size wind tunnel model of the CH-1 was created and tests were conducted at Wichita State University. The first full-size machine did not have an enclosed fuselage or cowling, nor a horizontal stabilizer. This test bed skeleton (referred to by the company as CH1-1) first hovered in July, 1953, eventually making test flights as high as 10,000 feet. The actual prototype CH-1 was built based on modifications made to the test bed aircraft and this second ship made its first flight in 1954, at the Prospect plant.
The CH-1 Skyhook is the only helicopter ever built by the Cessna Aircraft Company. The single, twin-bladed main rotor helicopter used a front-mounted reciprocating engine which gave the aircraft a stable center-of-gravity (CG). Its semi-monocoque airframe greatly resembles its light airplane siblings built by Cessna. The helicopter was named Skyhook for the civil market, similar to the marketing names used in the Cessna single engine airplane line, such as Skyhawk, Skylane and Skywagon. The CH-1's military designation for the United States Army was the YH-41 Seneca. The Skyhook would achieve several helicopter "firsts" and set a world record, but ultimately, it would never be a commercial or military success.
The prototype CH-1 had a turbocharged Continental FSO-470 engine rated at 260 h.p. at 3200 rpm. The turbocharger and cooling fans were driven by belts. Cessna had a long relationship with Continental who provided engines for their light airplanes, but the use of the Continental engine in a helicopter was considered as much of a test as Cessna's foray into the helicopter market itself, especially in a time when most other light helicopter manufacturers were using Lycoming engines.
The CH-1 external design was created by Richard Ten Eyck, an industrial designer for Cessna. It was a low profile streamlined aircraft-style body, featuring the engine in front and cabin seating behind the powerplant. The forward engine location provided "ease of access,...efficient cooling, and frees the center of gravity behind the cockpit for use in disposable load," but also presented a problem for how to vent the exhaust which would prove to be a problem throughout the aircraft's life. Additionally, the tail boom size, resulting from the airplane-style fuselage, created aerodynamic problems in hover and forward flight that would have to be solved by later aerodynamic structural changes.
The CH-1 established many firsts. The CH-1A was the first helicopter to land on Pikes Peak, at an altitude of 14,110 feet on 15 September 1955,[2] it had a higher cruise speed than comparable machines, and a CH-1B, modified with a FSO-526-2X engine, set an official FAI world altitude record for helicopters of 29,777 feet (Cessna's instrumentation showed 30,355 feet) on December 27, 1957.[2] The previous record had been set by a turbine powered Aérospatiale Alouette II and was later broken by another Alouette II, but the record set by the CH-1B remains the highest altitude ever achieved by a piston-powered helicopter.[1] The CH-1C was the first helicopter to receive IFR certification by the FAA.
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July 21, 2007
Bristol Sycamore helicopter
Bristol set up its Helicopter Department in after the Allied invasion of Europe in 1944, when engineers from the Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment at Beaulieu became available. The AFEE had been working on the development of helicopter designs under helicopter pioneer Raoul Hafner, but the success of Horsa and Hamilcar gliders during Operation Overlord led to helicopter research being given a priority at AFEE.
The design of the Sycamore commenced in June 1944, and extended over more than two years, with especial emphasis being given to the endurance of the mechanical components. The maiden flight took place on 27 July 1947, with the prototype VL958 powered by a 450 hp Pratt and Whitney Wasp Junior (there being no suitable engine in the Bristol range). The prototype Sycamore Mk.2 was completed in the summer of 1948, powered by a 550 hp Alvis Leonides; this became the standard engine for all subsequent Sycamore production.
Versions of the Sycamore up to and including the Mk.3A kept to the standard two-seat aircraft layout of having the pilot in the left-hand seat and co-pilot in the right. The main production, the Mk.4, switched to the American standard practice of having the pilot's seat on the right. There were also a number of other developments from earlier versions, such as a four-door design, that were standardized for the Mk.4. This version entered RAF service as the H.R.14.
Civil versions did not use the name Sycamore, and were known simply as Bristol Type 171.
The Bristol Type 171 Sycamore was the first British designed helicopter to fly and also the first to serve with the Royal Air Force. Created by the Bristol Aeroplane Company, it was used for search and rescue and anti-submarine warfare.
The Sycamore H.R.14 entered service with 275 Squadron of the RAF in April 1953, and went on to serve with nine squadrons in total. It was used during the Malayan Emergency (1948-1960) for deploying Army foot patrols into the jungle.
A total of 50 Sycamores were delivered to the German Federal Government, and three to the Belgian Government.
The Sycamore also has the distinction of being the second helicopter type to be used by the Australian Defence Forces, when seven were delivered to the Royal Australian Navy.
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Gyroplane Laboratoire helicopter
The aircraft consisted of an open steel tube framework, within which the engine, fuel tank, controls and pilot were situated, together with a tail assembly with plywood tail surfaces. The tail wheel landing gear was installed with the main wheels on outriggers and with an additional small wheel at the front to avoid nosing-over during landing.
Power was provided by a 240 HP Hispano radial engine which propelled the two contra-rotating, coaxial rotors. The coaxial rotor design was chosen because with the rotors turning in opposite directions the torque from one rotor was canceled out by the torque produced by the other rotor.
The two, twin-bladed rotors made of metal were shaped like arrows and incorporated both cyclic and collective pitch blade control, with which movement around the pitch and roll axis was controlled, as well as climb and descent. (see swash plate).
Gyroplane-Laboratoire, 1933
The Gyroplane Laboratoire is considered by some to be the first, practicable helicopter in the world. The frenchman, Louis Breguet, had already experimented with rotorcraft in 1909, however, he chose to concentrate on airplanes until the end of the 1920s. In 1929 he announced a set of patents which addressed the flight stabilization of rotorcraft. In 1931, Breguet created the Syndicat d'Etudes de Gyroplane (French for "Syndicate for Gyroplane Studies"), together with Rene Dorand as technical director. Their goal was the development of an experimental helicopter, which was called "Gyroplane Laboratoire".
The Bréguet Dorand aircraft was finished in 1933, after ground tests and an accident. The first flight took place on 26 June 1935. Within a short time the pilot, Maurice Claisse, was setting records with the aircraft:
The amount of attention received by the German Fw 61 from experts and the public, even though it came several years later, has detracted from the historical prestige of the Gyroplane Laboratoire, which, until the outbreak of World War II continued to fly and conduct further experiments. The only prototype was destroyed in 1943 during an allied air attack on the airport Villacoublay.
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Brantly B-2 Helicopter
Brantly B-2 helicopter is an American two-seat light helicopter produced by the Brantly Helicopter Corporation.
After the failure of his first design, the Brantly B-1, N.P. Brantly decided to design a simplier and less complicated helicopter for the private buyer. The Brantly B-2 had a single main rotor and an anti-torque tail rotor and first flew on 21 February 1953. This was followed by an improved second prototype that first flew on 14 August 1956. The B-2A was introduced with a modified cabin, and the B-2B had a larger 180hp fuel-injected engine.
The B-2B has a three-blade main rotor and an all-metal fuselage, it can be operated with skid, wheel or float landing gear. Unusually, to save room, the engine is fitted vertically in the fuselage behind the cabin.
The basic design remained in production for over 30 years. The United States Army evaluated the B-2 (designated the YHO-3) in 1958, although it was not ordered. An improved larger version with five seats was designated the Brantly 305.
Other Variants of Brantly B-2 Helicopter
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July 10, 2007
Boeing CH-47 Chinook
The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is a versatile, twin-engine, tandem rotor heavy-lift helicopter. The contra-rotating rotors eliminate the need for an anti-torque vertical rotor, allowing all power to be used for lift and thrust. Its top speed of 170 knots (196 mph, 315 km/h) was faster than utility and attack helicopters of the 1960s and even many of today. Its primary roles include troop movement, artillery emplacement and battlefield resupply. There is a wide loading ramp at the rear of the fuselage and three external-cargo hooks. It has replaced the CH-54 Tarhe as a lifter.
Chinooks have been sold to 16 nations, the largest users are the U.S. Army and the Royal Air Force (see Boeing Chinook (UK variants)). The H-47 is now sold by Boeing Integrated Defense Systems.
A commercial model of the Chinook, the Boeing-Vertol Model 234, is used worldwide for logging, construction, fighting forest fires and supporting petroleum exploration operations. As of December 15, 2006 Columbia Helicopters, Inc of Aurora, Oregon has purchased the Type certificate of the Model 234 from Boeing. Currently the company is seeking FAA issuance of a Production Certificate to produce parts with eventual issuance of a PC to produce aircraft.
Chinook CH-47D of the Royal Netherlands Air Force
Boeing CH-47 Chinook Variants
CH-47A
CH-47B
CH-47B CH-47B was powered by two AlliedSignal Engines T55-L-7C 2850 shp (2,130 kW) engines. The CH-47B featured a blunted rear rotor pylon, redesigned asymmetrical rotor blades, and strakes along the rear ramp and fuselage to improve flying characteristics. The CH-47B was the standard troop transport used by the 1st Cavalry Division in Vietnam. The Chinook could be equipped with two door-mounted M60D 7.62 mm NATO machine guns on the M24 armament subsystem and a ramp-mounted M60D using the M41 armament subsystem. Some CH-47 "bombers" were equipped to drop tear gas or napalm from the rear cargo ramp onto NLF (aka Việt Cộng) bunkers. The CH-47 could be equipped with a hoist and cargo hook. The Chinook proved especially valuable in "Pipe Smoke" aircraft recovery missions. The "Hook" recovered about 12,000 aircraft valued at over $3.6 billion during the war. 108 built.
CH-47C
CH-47C Three variants of the "C model" were in evidence. The original "C" had Lycoming T55-L-7C engines delivering 2,850 shp. The "Super C" included Lycoming T55-L-11 engines delivering 3,750 shp, an upgraded maximum gross weight of 46,000 pounds and a pitch stability augmentation system (PSAS). Due to difficulties with the T55-L-11 engines, which were hurriedly brought to war to increase payload, they were temporarily removed from the "Super C" prior to 1970 and the very reliable Lycoming T55-L-7C's were installed until the L-11 engine difficulties could be quantified and corrected. This L-7C engine configuration was affectionately referred to as the "baby C" although it was still a Super C. It still distinguished itself from the "C" in that it had PSAS, and an uprated maximum gross weight. The CH-47 A, B, and all variants of the C were not able to receive certification from the FAA for civil use due to the non redundant hydraulic flight boost system drive. A redesign of the hydraulic boost system drive was incorporated in the CH-47D which allowed that model to achieve FAA certification as the Boeing Model 234. 233 CH-47Cs were built.
The CH-47 A,B, and all variants of the C saw wide use during the Vietnam war. They replaced the H-21 Shawnee in the combat assault support role. CH-47C Plus Export version of the CH-47C Chinook for the Italian Army.
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Boeing 2707
Boeing had worked on a number of small-scale SST studies since 1952. In 1958, it established a permanent research committee, which grew to a $1 million effort by 1960. The committee proposed a variety of alternative designs, all under the name Model 733. Most of the designs featured a large delta wing, but in 1959 another design was offered as an offshoot of Boeing's efforts in the swing-wing TFX project (which led to the purchase of the General Dynamics F-111 instead of the Boeing offering). In 1960, an internal "competition" was run on a baseline 150-seat aircraft for trans-Atlantic routes, and the swing-wing version won.
By mid-1962, it was becoming clear that tentative talks earlier that year between the Bristol Aeroplane Company and Sud Aviation on a merger of their SST projects were more serious than originally thought. It appeared there was a very real chance the combined companies would be offering a design. In November, the two companies announced that a design called "Concorde" would be built by a consortium effort. This set off something of a wave of panic in other countries, as it was widely believed that almost all future commercial aircraft would be supersonic, and it looked like the Europeans would start off with a huge lead.
The Boeing 2707 was developed as the first American supersonic transport (SST). After winning a competition for a government-funded contract to build an American SST, Boeing began development at its facilities in Seattle, Washington. Rising costs, the lack of a clear market, and increasing outcry over the environmental effects of the aircraft—notably sonic boom—led to its cancellation in 1971 before two prototypes had been completed.
Design competition
Preliminary designs were submitted to the FAA on January 15, 1964. Boeing's entry was essentially identical to the swing-wing Model 733 studied in 1960; it was known officially as the Model 733-197, but also referred to both as the 1966 Model and the Model 2707. The latter name became the best known in public, while Boeing continued to use 733 model numbers. The design had an uncanny resemblance to the future B-1 Lancer bomber, with the exception that the engines were mounted in individual nacelles instead of the box-like system on the Lancer.
A "downselect" of the proposed models resulted in the North American NAC-60 and Curtiss-Wright efforts being dropped from the program, with both Boeing and Lockheed asked to offer SST models meeting the more demanding FAA requirements and able to use either of the remaining engine designs. In November, another design review was held, and by this time Boeing had scaled up the original design into a 250-seat model, the Model 733-290. Due to concerns about jet blast, the four engines were moved to a position underneath an enlarged tailplane. When the wings were in their swept-back position, they merged with the tailplane to give a delta-wing platform.
Both companies were now asked for considerably more detailed proposals, to be presented for final selection in 1966. When this occurred, Boeing's design was now the 300-seat Model 733-390. Both the Boeing and Lockheed L-2000 designs were presented in September 1966 along with full-scale mock-ups. A lengthy review followed, and on December 31, 1966, Boeing was announced as the winner. The design would be powered by the General Electric GE4/J5 engines. Lockheed's L-2000 was judged simpler to produce and less risky, but its performance was slightly lower and its noise levels slightly higher.
Refining the design
The -390 would be an advanced aircraft even if it were only subsonic. It was one of the earliest wide-body designs, using a 2-3-2 row seating arrangement in a fuselage that was considerably wider than aircraft then in service. The SST mock-up included both overhead storage for smaller items with restraining nets, as well as large drop-in bins between sections of the aircraft. In the main 247-seat tourist-class cabin, the entertainment system consisted of retractable televisions placed between every sixth row in the overhead storage. In the 30-seat first-class area, every pair of seats included smaller televisions in a console between the seats. Windows were only 6" due to the high altitudes the aircraft flew at maximizing the pressure on them, but the internal pane was 12" to give an illusion of size.
Boeing predicted that if the go-ahead were given, construction of the SST prototypes would begin in early 1967 and the first flight could be made in early 1970. Production aircraft could start being built in early 1969, with the flight testing in late 1972 and certification by mid-1974.
A major change in the design came when Boeing added canards behind the nose—which added weight. Boeing also faced insurmountable weight problems due to the swing-wing mechanism. In October 1968, the company was finally forced to abandon the variable geometry wing. The Boeing team fell back on a tailed delta wing—somewhat in irony given that the rejected Lockheed design had a fixed wing. The new design was also smaller, seating 234, and known as the Model 2707-300. Work began on a full-sized mock-up and two prototypes in September 1969, now two years behind schedule.
A promotional film claimed that airlines would soon pay back the federal investment in the project, and it was projected that SSTs would dominate the skies with subsonic jumbo jets (such as Boeing's own 747) being only a passing intermediate fad.
In miniature
The Boeing SST is unusual in that it was a very popular subject for toys and models well before it (never) flew. The most popular example was a 2-ship kit with models in cruise and landing configuration in the original canary yellow paint scheme, also re-issued in Pan Am colors (which was re-issued in the mid 2000s). Lindbergh also made a small swing-wing model Monogram also produced the canard configuration. There was a very small fixed wing model by Entex, and a small die-cast model, most of which show up on online auctions from time to time. A resurgence in interest by the 2000s also led to production of new wooden models which were offered online. There is a substantial market for Boeing (and Lockheed) SST items, some kept by employees at the time.
Source: Wikipedia
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Boeing 777
In the 1970s, Boeing unveiled new models: the twin-engine 757 to replace the venerable 727, the twin-engine 767 to challenge the Airbus A300, and a trijet 777 concept to compete with the DC-10 and the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar. Based on a re-winged 767 design, the 275 seat 777 was to be offered in two variants: a 2,700 nautical miles (5,000 km) transcontinental and an 4,320 nmi (8,000 km) intercontinental.
The twinjets were a big success, due in part to the 1980s ETOPS regulations. However the trijet 777 was cancelled (much like the trijet concept of the Boeing 757) in part because of the complexities of trijet design and the absence of a 40,000 lbf (178 kN) engine. The cancellation left Boeing with a big size and range gap in its product line between the 767-300ER and the 747-400. The DC-10 and L-1011, which entered service in early 1970s, were also ripe for replacement. In the meantime, Airbus developed the A340 to fulfill that requirement and compete with Boeing.
In the mid 1980s Boeing produced proposals for an enlarged 767, dubbed 767-X. It had a longer fuselage and larger wings than the existing 767, and seated about 340 passengers with a maximum range of 7,300 nautical miles (13,500 km). The airlines were unimpressed with the 767-X: they wanted short to intercontinental range capability, a bigger cabin cross section, a fully flexible cabin configuration and an operating cost lower than any 767 stretch. By 1988 Boeing realised that the only answer was a new design: the 777 twinjet.
The design phase of the 777 differed from that of previous Boeing jetliners. For the first time, eight major airlines had a role in the development of the plane. The airlines consulted were United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, ANA, British Airways, JAL, Qantas, and Cathay Pacific. (As of May 2007, Qantas is the only carrier, of the major airlines consulted, who has yet to order the 777.) The "Working Together" philosophy, as Boeing called it, meant that the 777 was their most customer oriented aircraft yet.
In October 1990, United Airlines became the 777's launch customer when it placed an order for 34 of the -200 variant with options on a further 34. Production of the first aircraft began in January 1993 at Boeing's Everett plant near Seattle.
The 777 included substantial international content, to be exceeded only by the 787. International contributors included Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries (fuselage panels), Fuji Heavy Industries, Ltd. (center wing section), Hawker De Havilland (elevators), ASTA (rudder) and Ilyushin (jointly designed overhead baggage compartment).
The 777 first flew on June 14, 1994 piloted by 777 Chief Test Pilot John E. Cashman. The aircraft would later undergo a flight test program more extensive than any other Boeing model. The development, testing, and delivery of the 777 was the subject of the documentary series, "21st Century Jet: The Building of the 777." The FAA awarded full 180 minute ETOPS clearance ("ETOPS-180") for PW4074 777-200s on May 30, 1995. The 777 was the first aircraft to carry an ETOPS-180 rating at its entry into service.
Due to rising fuel costs, airlines began looking at the Boeing 777 as a fuel efficient alternative compared to other widebody jets. With modern engines having extremely low failure rates (as seen in the ETOPS certification of most twinjets) and increased power output, four engines are no longer necessary except for very large aircraft, such as the Airbus A380 or Boeing 747.
Singapore Airlines is the largest operator of the Boeing 777 family with 67 in service, of which 46 are of the 777-200ER variant, 12 are 777-300s and 9 are 777-300ERs. Another 10 777-300ERs are on firm order, with 13 more on option.
As of May 2007, 50 customers have placed 988 orders for 777s.
The Boeing 777 is an American long-range wide-body twin-engined airliner built by Boeing's Commercial Airplanes division. It can carry between 301 and 368 passengers in a three-class configuration and has a range from 5,210 to 9,420 nautical miles (9,650 to 17,450 km). Distinguishing features of the 777 include the set of six wheels on each main landing gear, its perfectly circular fuselage cross section, the pronounced "neck" aft of the cockpit, and the blade-like rear tailcone.
The 777 was the first commercial aircraft to be designed entirely on computer. No mock-ups were ever produced; everything was created on a 3D CAD software system known as CATIA. This allowed a virtual 777 to be assembled in simulation, to check for interferences and to verify proper fit of the many thousands of parts before costly physical prototypes were manufactured.
Direct market competitors to the 777 are the Airbus A330-300, A340 and some models of the proposed A350 XWB. The 777 may eventually be replaced by a new product family, the Y3, which would draw upon 787 technologies. The Y3 may also replace the 747 series.
Source: Wikipedia
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Boeing Business Jet
The Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) is a 50/50 partnership between Boeing Commercial Airplanes and General Electric.
The Boeing Business Jet series are factory conversions of Boeing airliners for the corporate jet market, historically the 737 series airliners. This aircraft usually seats between 25 and 50 passengers within a luxurious configuration. This may include a master bedroom, a washroom with shower(s), a conference/dining area, and a living area in the most common layout.
The Boeing Boeing Business Jet is primarily a 737 commercial airframe with various modifications to provide for private jet service. The BBJ1 is based on a 737-700 airframe, with elements from the 737-800 included. The BBJ2 and BBJ3 are based on the 737-800 and 737-900ER series, respectively. All models include certain non-specific changes to the airframe regardless of the Boeing Business Jet series.
Changes from the normal 737 include:
Additionally, the BBJ1 contains the following items from the 737-800 (moot on the BBJ2 and BBJ3):
After the launch of the BBJ, Airbus followed suit with the launch of their Airbus ACJ derived from their A319 commercial airframe. More recently, they have also launched the longer range A318 Elite. Even with these competitors, the Boeing BBJ is currently the largest production business jet on the market. Other competitors on the smaller end of the market include the Embraer Lineage, the Bombardier Global Express and the Gulfstream G550.
Smaller models
Larger models
Version of the 747-8 ordered by the Boeing Business Jet division. Currently there are 4 orders for this aircraft. The VIP 747 is delivered by BBJ in a "green" condition, meaning there are no interior furnishings so that the owner can design it to their own preferences.
Version of the 777 ordered by the Boeing Business Jet division.
Version of the 787 ordered by the Boeing Business Jet division. Currently there are 7 orders for this aircraft. As with the 747, the VIP 787 is delivered by BBJ in a "green" condition, meaning there are no interior furnishings so that the owner can design it to their own preferences.
Source: Wikipedia
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June 23, 2007
Aero Spacelines Super Guppy
The first, the Super Guppy, or "SG", was built directly from the fuselage of a C-97J Turbo Stratocruiser, the military version of the Boeing 377.
The fuselage was lengthened to 141 feet (43 m), and ballooned out to a maximum inside diameter of 25 ft (7.6 m), the length of the cargo compartment being 94 ft 6 in (28.8 m). The floor of the cargo compartment was still only 8 ft 9 in (2.7 m) wide, as necessitated by the use of the Stratocruiser fuselage. In addition to the fuselage modifications, the Super Guppy used upgraded Pratt & Whitney T-34P7 turboprops for increased power and range, and modified wing and tail surfaces. It could carry a load of 40,000 pounds (18,000 kg) and cruise at 300 mph (480 km/h). 
The present version of the Super Guppy used by NASA
The second version was officially known as the Super Guppy Turbine (SGT) because the original 377 engines had been replaced with high-performance Allison 501-D22C turboprops. Unlike previous Guppies, the fuselage was constructed from scratch. By building from scratch, Aero Spacelines was able to widen the floor of the cargo compartment to 13 ft (4 m). The overall cargo compartment length was increased to 111 ft (33.8 m), and the improved fuselage and engines allowed for a maximum load of 54,500 pounds (24,700 kg). These design improvements, combined with a pressurized crew cabin that allowed for higher-altitude cruising, allowed the SGT to transport more cargo than its predecessors.
The SGT retained only the cockpit, wings, tail, and main landing gear of the 377. The nosegear was taken from the Boeing 707 -- and reversed 180 degrees. This dropped the front of the aircraft slightly, leveling the cargo bay floor and simplifying loading operations.
In the early 1970s, four Super Guppies were used by Airbus Industrie to transport aeroplane parts from decentralised production facilities to the final assembly plant in Toulouse. The running joke was "Every Airbus is delivered on the wings of a Boeing!" They have since been replaced by the Airbus Beluga.
Only one Super Guppy remains in service: an SGT flown by NASA. The other four are mothballed; the SG at Pima Air and Space Museum, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, the first SGT at Bruntingthorpe, UK, the second outside Airbus' factories at Blagnac Airport, Toulouse, France, and the third at Finkenwerder, Germany.
Super Guppy F-BPPA was operated for Airbus
Specifications (Super Guppy Turbine)
General characteristics
* Crew: Four
* Length: 143 ft 10 in (43.84 m)
* Wingspan: 156 ft 3 in (47.625 m)
* Height: 46 ft 5 in (14.148 m)
* Empty weight: 101,500 lb (46,039 kg)
* Useful load: 54,500 lb (24,720 kg)
* Max takeoff weight: 170,000 lb (77,110 kg)
* Powerplant: 4× Allison 501-D22C turboprops, 4,680 hp (3,491 kW) each
* Cargo bay dimensions: 111 ft x 25 ft x 25 ft (33.8 m x 7.62 m x 7.62 m)
Performance
* Cruise speed: 252 knots (288 mph, 467 km/h)
* Range: 1,734 nm (1,986 mi, 3,219 km)
* Service ceiling: 32,000 ft (9,753.6 m)
NASA Super Guppy taking off at Ellington Field Houston
Source: Wikipedia
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June 20, 2007
Alpha 2000
The Alpha Aviation Alpha 2000 is a two-seat, all-metal training and general aviation aircraft built in Hamilton, New Zealand. It is a development of French Apex Aircraft's Robin R2000 series acquired upon Apex's purchase of the Avions Robin company.
History
The original Avions Robin HR200 was designed by Christophe Heintz, to supplement the earlier Avions Robin designs of Jean Delemontez who also designed the popular post war wooden Jodel. The HR 200 prototype first flew on July 19 1971, and entered production in 1973. The R2000 Alpha name was applied to a new aircraft which shared the fuselage of the HR 200, but had all new wing and tail surfaces. The prototype R2000 Alpha flew on January 15, 1976 and production followed in 1977 to 1983.
Licensed production was also undertaken in Canada. The R2160 model was returned to production with minor modifications in 1994 by Apex Aircraft
In 2004 Alpha Aviation of New Zealand bought engineering jigs and equipment and world wide production rights to both the Robin HR200 and Robin R2000 series. Alpha Aviation has recommenced production of the Robin R2120 as the Alpha 2000 120T and of the Robin R2160 as the Alpha 2000 160A and 160Ai. Apex continues to market the aircraft in Europe.
Foxtrot X-ray Yankee -- first off the new production line
Production of the New Zealand development began in 2006 against orders for nine aircraft and 18 options (including orders form the UK, South Africa and Australia), with capacity to build four aircraft a month. An Alpha 160A, ZK-FXY, was first off the production line, being test flown by Noel Kruse and Steve Lange on 12 April 2006. It will be subsequently used as a company demonstrator. It made its first public appearance at the 2006 Warbirds over Wanaka airshow. The next three aircraft off the production line have been ordered by the Waikato Aero Club as training aircraft.
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AgustaWestland AW119
The AgustaWestland AW119 Koala (Agusta A119 Koala prior to the Agusta-Westland merger) is an eight-seat utility helicopter powered by a single turboshaft engine and produced for the civil market. It is intended to appeal to operators for whom the lower running costs of a single-engine aircraft outweigh the redundancy of a twin.
The design itself was derived from Agusta's highly successful A109, but with only a single engine (as the A109 was originally designed, in fact) and with fixed skids replacing the retractable wheeled landing gear. A key selling point is its wide-body fuselage, seating passengers three-abreast in the cabin, or allowing for two litters and medical attendants to be carried in the medevac role, whereas most similar-sized helicopters can only carry one. The actual cabin volume is approximately 30% greater than other helicopters in its class.
AW119 Koala
Development
The A119 designation was first applied to a proposed 11-seat stretched version of the A109 in the 1970s, but this was never actually built. The aircraft that was eventually to enter production was conceived in 1994, as Agusta was recovering from the financial woes that had nearly put the company out of business and the second of two prototypes took to the air in February the following year (the first prototype had been used for static tests). These two machines, registrations I-KOAL and I-KNEW were then presented to the public at the Paris Air Show in June 1995. Civil certification was originally anticipated in 1997, but that deadline was missed, Agusta citing personnel problems, and a need to increase the performance of the aircraft to meet customer expectations.
By way of a solution to the latter concern, the decision was taken to change the A119's powerplant. The prototypes were originally fitted with Turboméca Arriel 2K1 turboshafts, but the ubiquitous Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6B was chosen in its place. In 1998, the prototypes were remanufactured with this engine, being assigned new serial numbers at that time. Certification was now expected by the fourth quarter of that year, but even this date slipped to July 1999, and it was eventually December before Italian RAI certification was awarded. US FAA certification was awarded in February the following year. Customer deliveries began soon thereafter, with the first commercial example going to Australian logistics company Linfox (serial 14007, registration VH-FOX).
Source at: Wikipedia
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June 17, 2007
Airbus A380
Airbus started the development of a very large airliner (coined Megaliner by Airbus in the early development stages) in the early 1990s, both to complete its own range of products and to break the dominance that Boeing had enjoyed in this market segment since the early 1970s with its 747. McDonnell Douglas pursued a similar strategy with its ultimately unsuccessful MD-12 design. As each manufacturer looked to build a successor to the 747, they knew there was room for only one new aircraft to be profitable in the 600 to 800 seat market segment. Each knew the risk of splitting such a niche market, as had been demonstrated by the simultaneous debut of the Lockheed L-1011 and the McDonnell Douglas DC-10: either aircraft met the market’s needs, but the market could profitably sustain only one model, eventually resulting in Lockheed's departure from the civil airliner business. In January 1993, Boeing and several companies in the Airbus consortium started a joint feasibility study of an aircraft known as the Very Large Commercial Transport (VLCT), aiming to form a partnership to share the limited market.
Airbus A380
In June 1994, Airbus began developing its own very large airliner, designated the A3XX. Airbus considered several designs, including an odd side-by-side combination of two fuselages from the A340, which was Airbus’s largest jet at the time. The A3XX was pitted against the VLCT study and Boeing’s own New Large Aircraft successor to the 747, which evolved into the 747X, a stretched version of the 747 with the fore body "hump" extended rearwards to accommodate more passengers. The joint VLCT effort ended in July 1996, and Boeing suspended the 747X program in January 1997. From 1997 to 2000, as the East Asian financial crisis darkened the market outlook, Airbus refined its design, targeting a 15 to 20 percent reduction in operating costs over the existing Boeing 747-400. The A3XX design converged on a double-decker layout that provided higher seat capacities than a traditional single-deck design.
On 19 December 2000, the supervisory board of newly restructured Airbus voted to launch a €8.8 billion program to build the A3XX, re-christened as the A380, with 55 orders from six launch customers. The A380 designation was a break from previous sequential Airbus designations because the number 8 resembles the double-deck cross section, and is a lucky number in some Asian cultures. The aircraft’s final configuration was frozen in early 2001, and manufacturing of the first A380 wing box component started on 23 January 2002. The development cost of the A380 had grown to €11 billion when the first aircraft was completed.
Boeing, meanwhile, resurrected the 747X program several times before finally launching the 747-8 Intercontinental in November 2005 (with entry into service planned for 2009). Boeing chose to develop a derivative for the 400 to 500 seat market, instead of matching the A380's capacity.
The first A380 prototype, serial number 001 and registration F-WWOW, was unveiled at a ceremony in Toulouse on 18 January 2005. Its maiden flight took place at 8:29 UTC (10:29 a.m. local time) 27 April 2005. The prototype, equipped with Trent 900 engines, departed runway 32L of Toulouse Blagnac International Airport with a flight crew of six headed by test pilot Jacques Rosay, carrying 22 short tons (20 metric tons) of flight test instrumentation and water ballasts. The take-off weight of the aircraft was 421 tonnes (464 short tons); although this was only 75% of its maximum take-off weight, it was the heaviest take-off weight of any passenger airliner ever flown.
Maiden flight of the A380
In mid-November 2005, the A380 embarked on a tour of Southeast Asia and Australia for promotional and for long-haul flight testing purposes, visiting Singapore, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Kuala Lumpur. During this tour, the colours of Singapore Airlines, Qantas and Malaysia Airlines were applied in addition to the Airbus house colours. On 19 November, an A380 flew in full Emirates colours at the Dubai Air Show.
On 10 January 2006, the A380 made its first transatlantic flight to Medellín in Colombia, to test engine performance at a high altitude airport. It arrived in North America on 6 February, when an A380 landed in Iqaluit, Nunavut in Canada for cold-weather testing. The same aircraft then flew to Singapore to participate in the Asian Aerospace 2006 exhibition, in full Singapore Airlines livery.
On 26 March 2006, the A380 underwent evacuation certification in Hamburg in Germany. With 8 of the 16 exits blocked, 853 passengers and 20 crew left the aircraft in 78 seconds, less than the 90 seconds required by certification standards. Three days later, the A380 received European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval to carry up to 853 passengers.
Delivery delays
Initial production of the A380 was plagued by a series of delays attributed to the 530 km (330 miles) of wiring in each aircraft. Airbus cited as underlying causes the complexity of the cabin wiring (100,000 wires and 40,300 connectors), its concurrent design and production, the use of two incompatible versions of the CATIA computer-aided design software, the high degree of customisation for each airline, and failures of configuration management and change control. Deliveries would be pushed back by nearly two years.
While Airbus attributes the delays entirely to wiring, industry analyst Richard Aboulafia, noting that the first A380 will be around 5.5 tons heavier than intended, speculates that the weight problems " a long way in explaining the delay", and that "wiring alone did not explain what we were all hearing. It sounds like weight-reduction design changes are a big part of the delay, too."
Airbus announced the first delay in June 2005 and notified airlines that delivery would slip by six months, with Singapore Airlines expecting the first A380 in the last quarter of 2006, Qantas getting its first delivery in April 2007 and Emirates receiving aircraft before 2008. This reduced the number of planned deliveries by the end of 2009 from about 120 to 90–100.
A forward view of an Etihad A380-800 on the tarmac at Abu Dhabi International Airport
Cockpit
Airbus used similar cockpit layout, procedures and handling characteristics to those of other Airbus aircraft, to reduce crew training costs. Accordingly, the A380 features an improved glass cockpit, and fly-by-wire flight controls linked to side-sticks. The improved cockpit displays feature eight 15-by-20 cm (6-by-8-inch) liquid crystal displays, all of which are physically identical and interchangeable. These comprise two Primary Flight Displays, two navigation displays, one engine parameter display, one system display and two Multi-Function Displays. These MFDs are new with the A380, and provide an easy-to-use interface to the flight management system—replacing three multifunction control and display units. They include QWERTY keyboards and trackballs, interfacing with a graphical "point-and-click" display navigation system.
Avionics architecture
The A380 employs an Integrated Modular Avionics (IMA) architecture, first used in advanced military aircraft such as the F-22 Raptor and the Eurofighter Typhoon. It is based on a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) design. Many previous dedicated single-purpose avionics computers are replaced by dedicated software housed in onboard processor modules and servers. This cuts the number of parts, provides increased flexibility without resorting to customised avionics, and reduces costs by using commercially available computing power.
Together with IMA, the A380 avionics are very highly networked. The data communication networks use Avionics Full-Duplex Switched Ethernet, following the ARINC 664 standard. The data networks are switched, full-duplexed, star-topology and based on 100baseTX fast-Ethernet. This reduces the amount of wiring required and minimizes latency. The Network Systems Server (NSS) is the heart of A380 paperless cockpit. It eliminates the bulky manuals and charts traditionally carried by the pilots. The NSS has enough inbuilt robustness to do away with onboard backup paper documents.
The A380's network and server system stores data and offers electronic documentation, providing a required equipment list, navigation charts, performance calculations, and an aircraft logbook. All are accessible to the pilot from two additional 27 cm (11 inch) diagonal LCDs, each controlled by its own keyboard and control cursor device mounted in the foldable table in front of each pilot.
Source at: Wikipedia
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Airbus A340
The Airbus A340 is a long-range four-engined widebody commercial passenger airliner manufactured by Airbus S.A.S. a subsidiary of EADS. It is similar in design to the twin-engined A330. The first published studies for the A340 were as the TA11 in 1981, as shown in the November issue of Air International (coinciding with the display of the A300 at that year's Farnborough Air Show). Concept drawings of the A320 (SA 9) and A330 (TA9) were also published, along with estimated performance figures by Airbus Industrie.
The A340 was launched in June 1987 as a long-range complement to the short-range A320 and the medium-range A300. At the time, Airbus's twinjets were at a disadvantage against aircraft such as the Boeing 747 because of the ETOPS problem: two-engined aircraft had to stay within close range of emergency airfields to allow for engine malfunction.
The A340 was designed in parallel with the twin-engined A330: both aircraft share the same wing and similar fuselage structure, and borrow heavily from the advanced avionics developed for the A320. Both the A330 and A340 are assembled on the same final assembly line at Toulouse-Blagnac, France. The four-engined A340 is able to fly long over-water routes. Because of its ETOPS-immunity, Virgin Atlantic Airways used the motto "4 Engines 4 Long Haul," on its A340 fleet.
Lufthansa A340-600
It was originally intended to use the new superfan engines of IAE (International Aero Engines) in the A340 but IAE decided to stop their development and the CFMI CFM56-5C4 was used instead. When the A340 first flew in 1991, engineers noticed a potentially major design flaw in the first model: the wings were not strong enough to carry the outboard engines at cruising speed without warping and fluttering. To alleviate this, an underwing bulge called the plastron, named after the undershell of a tortoise, was developed to correct airflow problems around the engine pylons. The modified A340 began commercial service in 1993 with Lufthansa and Air France.
The A340 incorporates high-technology features such as fully digital fly-by-wire flight control system. It also uses a sidestick controller instead of normal control columns. There is one 'joystick' to the left of the pilot and one to the right of the co-pilot. The A340, as with all Airbus planes, employs a common pilot rating, specially with the two-engined A330. The cockpit also features CRT-based glass cockpit displays on the A340-200 and A340-300 and LCD-based on -500 and -600. Some composite primary structures are also used.
When fuel costs rose, airlines began looking at the Boeing 777 as an alternative to the A340. As the years went by, orders for the 777 rose, while orders for the A340 diminished. It can be argued that, with modern engines having extremely low failure rates (as seen in the ETOPS certification of most twinjets) and increased power output, four engines are no longer necessary except for very large aircraft, such as the Airbus A380 or Boeing 747. In 2005, Airbus had only 15 orders for the A340.
A340-600 at the Farnborough Air Show, 2006
In January 2006, Airbus announced plans to develop an enhanced version of the A340, dubbed the A340E; where E stands for enhanced, because of disappointing sales in the wake of newer longer range Boeing 777s in 2005, and the rise in fuel costs that have justified twin-engine planes as being more economical to operate than four engine planes. Airbus claims that the enhanced A340 will be more fuel-efficient than earlier A340s and will allow the model to compete more effectively with the Boeing 777. When this possible model will be developed has yet to be determined.
BWIA Airbus A340-300, 9Y-TJN, in 2002
Source: Wikipedia
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June 14, 2007
Boeing 787
Boeing 787 Background
In the late 1990s, Boeing began to consider a replacement for the 767 when sales weakened from the competing Airbus A330-200. As sales of the Boeing 747-400 were also slowing, the company proposed two new aircraft—the Sonic Cruiser and the 747X. The Sonic Cruiser would have achieved higher speeds (approximately Mach 0.98) while burning fuel at the same rate as the existing 767 or A330. The 747X, competing with the Airbus A380, would have stretched the 747-400 and improved efficiency by using a composite supercritical wing.
Market interest for the 747X was tepid, but the Sonic Cruiser had brighter prospects. Several major airlines in the United States, including Continental, initially voiced their optimism for the Sonic Cruiser concept, although they also expressed concerns about the operating cost. By decreasing travel time, they would be able to increase customer satisfaction and aircraft utilization.
The September 11, 2001 attacks upended the global airline market. Airlines were unable to justify large capital expenditures, and due to increased petroleum prices, became more interested in efficiency than speed. The worst-affected airlines, in the United States, were considered the most likely customers of the Sonic Cruiser. Boeing offered airlines the option of using the airframe for either higher speed or increased efficiency, but the high projected airframe costs caused demand to evaporate further. Boeing canceled the 747X once Airbus launched production of the Airbus A380, and switched tracks by offering an alternative product, the 7E7.
On April 26, 2004, the Japanese airline All Nippon Airways (ANA) became the launch customer for the 787, then still known as the 7E7, by announcing a firm order for 50 aircraft to be delivered beginning in April 2008. ANA's order included thirty 787-3, 290–330 seat, one-class domestic aircraft, and twenty 787-8, long-haul, 210–250 seat, two-class aircraft for regional international routes such as Tokyo Narita–Beijing. The aircraft will allow ANA to open new routes to mid-sized cities not previously served, such as Denver or Montreal. As is common for launch customers in the aviation industry, ANA is rumored to have received a discount of 40–50% off the official list price.
The 787-3 and 787-8 variants will be available first, while the 787-9 will enter service in 2010, despite industry rumors that it would be delayed as orders for the 787-3 and 787-8 sold out early production.
Boeing initially priced the 787-8 variant at US$120 million, a low figure which surprised the industry. Its price has been increased twice since launch. As of 2007, the list price was US$138–143 million for the 787-3, US$148–157.5 million for the 787-8, and US$178.5–188 million for the 787-9.
Customer-announced orders and commitments for the 787 reached 237 aircraft during the first year of sales, with firm orders numbering 569 frames at the end of May, 2007, well before entry into service (EIS). This makes the 787 the fastest-selling wide-bodied airliner ever upon EIS.
Boeing 787 Development
The replacement for the Sonic Cruiser project was dubbed the 7E7 (with a development code name of Y2.) The "E" was said to stand for various things, depending upon the audience. To some, it stood for "efficiency", to others it stood for "environmentally friendly", etc. In the end, Boeing claimed it merely stood for "Eight", after the aircraft was eventually rechristened "787".
The 787 essentially uses the technology proposed for the Sonic Cruiser in a more conventional airframe configuration (see Features). Boeing claims that the 787 will be up to 20% more fuel-efficient than current comparable aircraft. Roughly one-third of this efficiency improvement will come from the engines; another third from aerodynamic improvements and the increased use of lighter weight composite materials; and the final third from advanced systems. The most notable system advancement contributing to efficiency is a "more electric architecture" which replaces bleed air and hydraulic power with electrically powered compressors and pumps. Technology from the Sonic Cruiser and 787 will be used as part of Boeing's project to replace its entire airliner product line, an endeavor called the Yellowstone Project (of which the 787 is the first stage).
Boeing selected two engine types, the General Electric GEnx and Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 to power the 787, both placed in pods. Significantly, this leaves Pratt & Whitney, which normally has an entrant in this market space, unable to offer one of its own engines to 787 customers. According to UTC CEO George David, Pratt & Whitney "couldn't make the business case work for that engine." Also, according to industry sources, Boeing may have wished to rely on evolved versions of existing engines rather than the higher-risk option of an all new engine from Pratt & Whitney.
For the first time in commercial aviation, both engine types will have a standard interface with the aircraft, allowing any 787 to be fitted with either a GE or Rolls-Royce engine at any time. Engine interchangeability makes the 787 a more flexible asset to airlines, allowing them to change from one manufacturer's engine to the other's in light of any future engine developments which conform more closely to their operating profile. The engine market for the 787 is estimated at US$40 billion over the next 25 years. The launch engine for all 3 current 787 variants is the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000.
The launch of a new airliner can be expected to draw scathing comments from competitors, Boeing's doubt over the Airbus A380 and Airbus' mocking of the Sonic Cruiser being recent examples. The 787 is no exception, as Airbus' John Leahy has made attempts at refuting all of Boeing's claims, openly criticizing the large-scale use of composites in the 787's fuselage as being "rushed and ridiculous", although Boeing built and tested the first composite section while examining the Sonic Cruiser concept nearly five years ago, making the 787 a significantly refined product. Airbus has offered the competing A350 using derivatives of the turbofans developed for the 787. This new jet will make less widespread use of composites with Airbus preferring aluminum-lithium alloys for the fuselage.
Boeing has stated it is likely to develop a stretched version, "787-10", with seating capacity between 290 - 310. This proposed model is intended to compete with the planned Airbus A350-900. The 787-10 would supersede the 777-200ER in Boeing’s current lineup, and could also be targeted to replace the Airbus A330-300 and A340-300. Emirates Airlines and Qantas have shown interest in such variant which would enter service in 2012. This variant has not yet been officially launched by Boeing, but Mike Bair, head of the 787 Program, has stated that “It's not a matter of if, but when we are going to do it... The 787-10 will be a stretched version of the 787-9 and sacrifice some range to add extra seat and cargo capacity.”
On March 19, 2007, Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Scott Carson and 787 program manager Mike Bair told reporters and investors that Boeing intends to roll out the first 787 on July 8, 2007, which matches the aircraft's designation when using US-style month-day-year format. Boeing will host at Qwest Field on Sunday, July 8, 2007 at 3:00 pm PDT a live simulcast on the stadium screens for up to 50,000 employees and retirees as the first 787 Dreamliner rolls out in Everett. The general public can view the rollout via satellite on DirecTV (channel 576) and on DishNetwork (channel 9601), or over the Internet at http://www.boeing.com and http://www.newairplane.com.
Features Features
Early concept images of the 787 included rakish cockpit windows, a dropped nose, and a distinctive "shark-fin" vertical stabilizer. The final styling of the aircraft was more conservative, with the fin appearing visually similar to those of aircraft currently in service. The nose and cockpit windows were also changed to a more conventional form. Like other Boeing airliners, the 787 will use a yoke instead of the sidestick found on Airbus designs.
Rendering of the Boeing 787
Boeing 787 Production
Boeing will manufacture the 787's tail fin at its plant in Frederickson, Washington, ailerons and flaps at Boeing Australia, and fairings at Boeing Canada. For its entire history, Boeing has guarded its techniques for designing and mass producing commercial jetliner wings. Due to economic and political reasons, the wings will be manufactured by Japanese companies in Nagoya, e.g. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, while the horizontal stabilizers will be manufactured by Alenia Aeronautica in Italy, and the fuselage sections by Vought in South Carolina (USA), Alenia in Italy, Kawasaki Heavy Industries in Japan, and Spirit AeroSystems, in Wichita, Kansas (USA).
The passenger doors will be made by Latecoere (France) while the cargo doors, access doors and crew escape door will be made by Saab (Sweden). Japanese industrial participation is very important to the project, with 35% workshare, with many of the subcontractors supported and funded by the Japanese government. On April 26, 2006, Japanese manufacturer Toray Industries and Boeing announced a production agreement involving $6 billion worth of carbon fiber. The deal is an extension of a contract signed in 2004 between the two companies and eases some concerns that Boeing might have difficulty maintaining its production goals for the 787.
From France, Messier-Dowty will build the landing gear and Thales will supply the integrated standby flight display, electrical power conversion system, and in-flight entertainment.
Honeywell and Rockwell-Collins will provide flight control, guidance and other avionics systems, including standard dual head up guidance systems. Future integration of forward looking infrared is being looked at by Flight Dynamics allowing improved visibility using thermal sensing as part of the HUD system, allowing pilots to "see" through the clouds.
Hamilton Sundstrand will provide power distribution and management systems to the aircraft, including manufacture and production of Generator Control Units (GCUs) as well as integration of power transfer systems that can move power from the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) and the main engines to the necessary parts and machinery of the aircraft. They have performed the cold weather tests in Alaska.
The final assembly will consist of attaching fully-completed subassemblies, instead of building the complete aircraft from the ground up. This is a technique which Boeing has previously used on the 737 program, which involves shipping fuselage barrel sections by rail from Spirit's Wichita, Kansas facility to Boeing's narrowbody final assembly plant at Renton, Washington. After stiff competition, Boeing announced on December 16, 2003 that assembly would take place in Everett, Washington, employing 800 to 1,200 people.
The 787 will undergo wind-tunnel testing at Boeing's Transonic Wind Tunnel, QinetiQ's five-meter wind tunnel based in Farnborough, UK, and NASA Ames Research Center's wind tunnel, as well as at the French aerodynamics research agency, ONERA.
The first composite section rolled out in January 2005, and final external design was set in April 2005. On June 30, 2006 Boeing celebrated the start of major assembly of the first 787 at Fuji Heavy Industries' new factory in Handa, Japan, near Nagoya.
Boeing intends to deliver 118 aircraft during the first 18 months of production. Due to customer demand, Boeing is currently considering whether to increase production, if the production capacity of suppliers allows.
On December 3, 2006, Boeing conducted a "virtual rollout" of the 787. Unlike a traditional rollout (which will occur later), it took place without a physical airframe present. Taking computer aided design beyond the aircraft itself, Boeing modeled the manufacturing process, step-by-step and end-to-end, in software. The virtual rollout is intended to discover production issues prior to assembly of the first airframe, when they are cheaper to fix.
On January 12, 2007, first major assemblies, forward fuselage, center wing and center wheel well built by FHI and KHI were shipped on 747-400 LCF from Nagoya, Japan. They were delivered to Global Aeronautica in Charleston, South Carolina on January 15, 2007.
On February 15, 2007, the first production nose section (Section 41) was unveiled at Spirit AeroSystems in Wichita, Kansas. This was the first production nose section, used in the first complete flight-test 787 and represents those used in all subsequent production 787s. It encompasses the cockpit area, nose landing gear well and the forward-most section of the passenger area. The section is oval-shaped (as is the entire fuselage) and is 21 feet (6.4 m) in height, 19 feet (5.74 m) in width and 42 feet (12.8 m) in length.
On March 14, 2007, the first production vertical tail fin was rolled out at Boeing's Composite Manufacturing Center in Frederickson, Washington. On April 16, 2007, the first production all-composite nose-and-cockpit section was rolled out at Spirit Aerosystem's plant in Wichita, Kansas. The 747-400 LCF Dreamlifter delivered the first horizontal stabilizer manufactured by Alenia Aeronautica at its facility in Foggia, Italy to Everett on April 24, 2007. On May 8, 2007, Vought rolled out completed rear Sections 47 and 48 from its factory in Charleston, SC. The sections were flown via the Dreamlifter to Everett, arriving on May 11, 2007 along with the all-composite forward section (section 41) manufactured by Spirit AeroSystems.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. sent the first 787 carbon-fiber wings from its factory in Nagoya to Boeing's main assembly plant in Everett on May 15, 2007. The Dreamlifter delivered the final major assembly, the integrated midbody fuselage, to Everett at 1:58 a.m. on May 16, 2007. Final assembly began on May 21, 2007 in Everett, Washington. Rolls-Royce shipped the first pair of Trent 1000 engines from their Derby, UK facilities on schedule on June 7, 2007 for installation on the Boeing 787.
Boeing 787 Overview
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is a mid-sized, wide body, twin engined jet airliner currently under development by Boeing's Commercial Airplanes unit and scheduled to enter service in May 2008. It will carry between 210 and 330 passengers depending on variant and seating configuration. Boeing has stated that it will be more fuel-efficient than comparable earlier Boeing airliners. It will also be the first major airliner to use composite material for most of its construction.
Prior to January 28, 2005, the 787 was known by the developmental designator 7E7. The early renderings released depicted a radical design with highly curved surfaces. On April 26, 2005, one year to the day after the launch of the program, the final look of the external 787 design was frozen with a less rakish nose and a more conventional tail. Boeing has started the final assembly of its Boeing 787 and expects first test flights in August, 2007.
Technical concerns
Engine interchangeability
The two types of engines compatible with the 787 will use a standard electrical interface, potentially allowing any aircraft to be fitted with Rolls-Royce or GE engines at any time. This flexibility will allow an airline to switch from one manufacturer to the other in the event of technological developments which conform more closely to their operating profile. Boeing's goal is to make changing engine types as simple as a standard same-manufacturer replacement.
According to ILFC's Vice President of Marketing, Marty Olson, changing engine types on a 787 could take as long as 15 days and so be economically infeasible. "You'd have to take all the pylon, everything from the wing down, off" Olson said. He went on to complain that Boeing is still promoting the 24 hours change in spite of promises to alter their marketing. Current aircraft can have engines changed to those of a different manufacturer but this rarely happens due to the costs involved. Boeing's response is that the design is not yet finalized and 24 hours remains their goal.
Composite fuselage
The 787's all-composite fuselage makes it the first composite airliner in production. It was suggested by many that the risks of having a composite fuselage have not been fully assessed and should not be attempted. It was also added that carbon fiber, unlike metal, does not visibly show cracks and fatigue and repairing any damage done to the aircraft would not be easy. Boeing has dismissed such notions insisting that composites have been used on wings and other passenger aircraft parts for years and this is a non-issue. They have also stated that special defect-detection procedures will be put in place to negate any concern. In 2006, Boeing launched the 787 GoldCare program. This is a comprehensive life-cycle management service whereby all the aircraft that sign up for this program are routinely monitored and repaired if needed. This is the first program of its kind from Boeing: post-sale protection programs are not new, but have usually been offered by third party service centers. Boeing believes this brings them additional revenue and will also allow them to nullify any concern over maintaining this aircraft for overanxious airlines.
Weight issues
Boeing has been working on trimming excess weight since assembly of the first unit began earlier in 2006. This is typical in aviation for new aircraft during their development phase. The aircraft is first designed on computers and an empty weight is promised to customers to ensure fuel efficiency and payload obligations. However upon assembly, some parts may be manufactured with minor variances that multiply dramatically if the part is used frequently.
Weight issues
The first six 787s built, which are to be used as part of the test program, will be overweight according to Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Scott Carson, but the seventh, which will be the first to be delivered to an airline customer, is expected to be on target. Boeing has redesigned some parts, and made more use of titanium. The weight target that is pledged to customers is for a "green aircraft" with no interior fittings. Each airline chooses its own seats, and amenities which add weight in varying degrees, but are not related to Boeing's obligations.
Source: Search result of "Boeing 787" at: Wikipedia
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