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Aviation History
1968
1968 - 0681.PDF
RIGHT International, 2 May 1968 657 AIR TRANSPORT US Airbus Pattern Settled LAST WEEK'S ANNOUNCEMENT by United Air Lines of an orderfor 30 McDonnell Douglas DC-10s, powered by 39,5001b1 thrust General Electric CF6/36 turbofans, has not only guaranteed the future existence of a second US airbus but also of a second engine type. Unfortunate for Rolls-Royce though it is that they failed to get the contract in addition to that for the first bdg round of orders for the Lockheed 1011, competition of this kind can do little but good. American Airlines ordered 25 DC-lOs on February 19, with options on a further 25, but did not specify the powerplant, the choice of which was left to be decided later on a basis of preference expressed by more than the first customer. United's decision can be expected to have settled the question for American and for all future DC-10 customers. So we have the Lockheed 1011 with R-R RB.211-06 engines and the DC-10 with GE CF6/36 engines. United's firm order for 30 DClOs (with an option on 30 more) is at a price of approximately $15.5 million (£6.5 million) each. Financial arrangements for the total of $465 million (£194 million) involved in the initial order will be completed later. Speaking about the order decision, made at a stock- holders' meeting on April 25, Mi G. E. Keck, United's president, described the choice as "difficult" because of the "near similarity," in many important details, of the Lockheed and Douglas trijets and Boeing proposals, each of which was subject to an "arduous evaluation." Deliveries to American and United will begin in August 1971. Meanwhile the specification of the A-300 European airbus went in early this week to the three national governments and airlines concerned, with July 31 as the deadline for final determination and decisions by BEA, Air France and Lufthansa. | The performance and other data for the A-300 have been ; modified since the last information was issued and the revised characteristics are to be given today at the Hanover Show. Both the DC-10 and the 1011 have been re-schemed and much i enlarged since the original .proposals were detailed last year;1 the gross weight of the 1011, for instance, has risen from ; 320,0001b to 409,0001b since October. Outline information only | has so far been given about the developed dimensions, weights1 and performance of the US contestants. The comparative figures in the table on this page include only the latest figures to be given, but should be treated as provisional. The situation for the A-300 was radically changed late last :week when Boeing announced the abandonment of the [medium-range trijet 747-300 project and concentration on the ! development of the 747-200—a 200-240-seat big twin with P&WJT9Ds and a range of 1,200-1,800 miles. If Boeing obtains orders and goes ahead with the 747-200 this will be much more McDonne// Doughs DC-10 directly competitive with the A-300 than the DC-10 and 1011, which can be considered to be sufficiently different to leave an adequate market for the European Airbus. Following the previous pattern of Lufthansa's public state- ments, Herr Gerhard Hoeltje, the airline's technical executive, said that he welcomed the Boeing announcement "with great interest" and repeated earlier statements that Lufthansa was not likely to place an order for an airbus type until 1973. Though Lufthansa is a Boeing operator, Herr Hoeltje is re- ported as saying that he would not "ride the Boeing principle to death" but apparently made it clear that the A-300 would need to be better than the 747-200 to win an order from his airline. The Ministry of Technology is not, apparently, unduly con- cerned about the attitude of Herr Hoeltje on the A-300 ques- tion. Whitehall takes the view that for all its pretensions of independence, Lufthansa is no more free than BEA or Air France to buy aircraft contrary to the governments' wishes. Powerplants Take-off gross weight Passengers FAR take-off to 35ft,ISA, s.l., max gross Approx price Orders Deliveries start Lockheed 1011 3 X R-R RB.211-06 409,0001b 256-345 8.750ft $15 million Eastern (50) TWA (44) Delta (24)Northeast (4) Air Holdings (30 + 20)1972 DC-10 3 X GE CF6/36 386,5001b 250-300-plus $15.5 million American (25 + 25) United (30 + 30) Aug 1971 A-300 2 X R-R RB.207-03 290,0001b 250-300 __ 113 million 1973 AnglolFrench/German A-3QQ Lockheed 1011
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