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Aviation History
1982
1982 - 2410.PDF
Commercial aircraft of the world This is what the 150-seater A320 will look like turer would like significant orders from five airlines, including one in the United States, before giving full-scale go-ahead for this $2 billion project. The aircraft has certainly created a lot of interest, not least with airlines outside North America and Europe, like Malaysian Airline System, Trans-Australian, and Indian Airlines, but so far definitive sales have not emerged. At present Airbus is offering two ver sions of the aircraft, the -100 and -200. Both would have the same fuselage length and accommodation for up to 179 passen gers in a single class and be powered by the 25,0001b thrust CFM56-2K2. The -100 would, however, be significantly lighter and have a more modest range. Recent doubts that General Electric was willing to back the CFM56-2K2 now appear to have been resolved, but the later timing of any Rolls-Royce/Pratt & Whitney collaboration on a 25,0001b thrust engine make it im possible for Airbus to offer this power- plant on early A320 deliveries. The six abreast, single aisle fuselage cross-section of the A320 would, it is claimed, offer higher standards of passen ger comfort and a more useful under- floor hold than the narrowbodied Boeings. Because the A320 would be slightly wider, seats can be more generous and overhead storage volume greater. Lower deck con tainers could have the same base as the LD3 and could make use of all the exist ing ground-handling equipment. The A320 would make extensive use of carbon com posites, would use an advanced-CRT dis play flight-deck, and hopes to gain certi fication for fly-by-wire control techniques to introduce a degree of relaxed stability. While Airbus has been eager to talk at length with Delta, it is wary of designing an over-optimised aircraft which does not offer development potential. At the mo ment, Airbus believes the detailed speci fication issued by Delta would lead into a blind alley. The industrial arrangements for produc tion of the A320 have not yet been final ised, although the principal partners, Aero* spatiale, British Aerospace, and Deutsche 1180 Airbus, have a workable proposal sketched out. Any detailed arrangements depend on the outcome of the current round of dis cussions with DHC, Aeritalia, Fokker, and the Japanese. It is expected that current Airbus participants like Belairbus and Casa will have a role in the A320. Programme Status: Orders, 25. Options, 25. Delivered, 0. Not yet a production pro gramme. Airbus Developments TA9, TA11, TA12 Within the Airbus consortium, the Ger mans are keenest on further developments of the twin-aisle, widebody family. For the moment, however, the A300-600, A310, and A320 remain the principal preoccupation. The next round of twin-aisle developments are seen as heading in two directions. The first towards a fuselage stretch combined, probably, with a new wing (the so-called TA9) and the second towards greater range. The long-range option would either combine the TA9 wing with four 30,0001b thrust engines and the fuselage of the A310 to make the TA11, or the TA9 wing and two engines with the A300-600 fuse lage to give the TA12. The TA11 would offer unrestricted over-water operation but cost more, while the TA12 would depend on a relaxation of current safety rules for full exploitation. It would, however, cost less to launch. The TA9 is a big re-winged A300 FLIGHT International, 23 October 1982
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