Air Transport

Boeing is expected to announce this week that carbon brakes will be available on the Next Generation 737 as a no-charge option from 2008 after selecting two suppliers. The carbon brakes will save around 320kg (700lb) compared with the current steel brakes, and will have double the life, says Boeing, which anticipates brake changes after around 2,000 landings.

The brakes will be supplied by Goodrich and Messier-Bugatti and be available for deliveries from early 2008, after a two-month flight-test programme. “Around one and half years ago we surveyed carbon brake technology again and saw that maintenance costs per landing were coming down and that operators would benefit from it without paying a penalty in terms of turnaround time,” says 737 chief project engineer Mike Delaney. “It was the fifth time we’d studied it in the life of the Next Generation,” he adds.

The change, which will be accompanied by a move from bias- to radial- ply tyres, will be available for all new-build 737NG models as well as for retrofit . Other changes will include modifications to the anti-skid auto-brake control unit, brake temperature monitoring system and revisions to the flight-management system for performance changes.

Delaney says the combined brake and tyre change also “gives a weight-saving advantage to the airlines, which widens our competitive advantage over the Airbus A320 – which goes from around 2,400lb [1,090kg] to 3,200lb.”

GUY NORRIS / LOS ANGELES