FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1982
1982 - 0014.PDF
Boeing 757: introduc the big-fan narrowbody A BOUT 70 per cent of all air travel is made up of flights less I s two hours long. Since most si travellers want travel ' hat fit their schedule, it is rant for an airline to offer a 1<> ^hts a day. So it makes sense to fly frequent trips with a comparatively small air liner, rati : a few with a large r is the 180- >7—essentially a replacement for the 727, which has dominated market for more than a decade. In a world of ever-rising fuel prices, efficiency is easily the largest factor in airliner design. This is especially true of the 757. Boeing calculates that the latest generation of big turbofans offer a fuel saving of roughly 20 per cent, and that aero dynamic and other improvements are worth about another 10 per cent. Keeping the six-abreast fuselage section of the 727 means a 7 per cent fuel saving over a seven-abreast one, says Boeing. But is the single-aisle, six-abreast layout acceptable to pas sengers familiar with widebody spaciousness? Boeing market research shows that it is. Passengers apparently choose a widebody over a narrowbody on flights of more than a couple of hours, but not for shorter journeys. So the big fan narrowbody is a logical step. Boeing has optimised its 757 for a 500 n.m. leg, and expects typical sector flying time to be less than two hours. Typical customers will have low fuel burn as a high priority, and lack a large cargo market, because a narrowbody has less underfloor capa city than a widebody. Past 727 opera- Boeing rolls out its 757 on January 13—the second new airliner it has unveiled in five months. DAVID VELUPILLAI reports from Boeing Renton on the latest short-haul twin, and FRANK MUNGER details its anatomy with a cutaway. ps J^ L--c *-'"*, 5 — ^ i; r I , t 1' M| •H: 15^j -'.!;,. Heading Boeing's 757 will use 15-35 per cent Jess fuel per seat than current medium- range aircraft. Effectively a 727 replacement, the 757 will typically seat 180 passengers. Above The 757 is about as long as its 767 sister, but is a narrowbody and has a lower span. Similar layouts allow Boeing to give each type the same flying qualities tors are obviously o.fie large group potential customers. Boeing's 7J7 )<*rks a direct , tor, and the Mc Super 80' is peifrfiv f", IVM ti«-/,t —although arguahh because of its cor* cient engines. The pr. seaters are also likely to •. • -~ lower end of the 757's market. Most manufacture tent with just over ' ers at roll-out, but not Boeing, which says that it is satisfied with sales but still a little hungry (see table on page 19). Sales would have been better without the current airline financial difficul ties, believes Boeing. Potential cus tomers for the future include Pan Am, Northwest, and airlines in Africa and South America. Like its 767 sister, the 757 is offered with a choice of powerplant —Rolls-Royce's RB.211-535, or Pratt & Whitney's PW2037. But while Rolls- Royce's engine is a derivative and already certificated, it will be late 1984 before PW2037-powered aircraft enter service. There are about 100 orders for and options on each engine to date. Boeing's 757 and 767 share many design features, and also have many common parts, particularly in the cockpit. This shared approach is a logical step when two aircraft are designed and built by the same com pany almost simultaneously. It re duces development cost and makes the aircraft more attractive to an air line flying both types. Boeing has in corporated common features despite having two separate design teams— 12 FLIGHT International, 2 January 1982
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
