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Aviation History
1986
1986 - 3542.PDF
The new long-rangers The Airbus alternative Maximum commonality is the Airbus aim: commonality between the A330 and the A340 and common ality with other Airbus products. "We are really launching two versions of the same aircraft," says Stuart Iddles, Airbus Industrie senior vice-president commercial. "We will aim for a common A330/A340 type rating which we hope to extend to the A320, making possible a single rating for an entire airline fleet." The A330 and A340 will share the nine- abreast fuselage cross-section of the A300 and A310, to be built on the same jigs, while the flightdeck, avionics, and fly-by- wire controls will be based on those of the A320. Airbus approached 34 airlines with draft specifications of the A330 and A340 in late 1985. What emerged were airline requirements for a DC-10-sized aircraft with a range of at least 6,800 n.m. and seat-mile costs competitive with the 747; and for a "DC-10 plus 10 per cent"-sized aircraft with a 3,500-5,000 n.m. range able to offer lower seat-mile costs than any 767 derivative. Originally the A330 and A340 had the same fuselage, but to counter the forward e.g. shift when the A340's outboard engines were removed and the A330's much larger inboard engines fitted, Airbus had to stretch the latter by two fuselage frames aft of the wing. To make the stretch worthwhile, two further frames were added aft of the wing and two forward to produce the "DC-10 plus 10 per cent"-sized aircraft the airlines wanted. A330 range was reduced, but remained sufficient to meet airline demands. In a two-class medium-range cabin configuration the A330 seats 328 and the A340 303. This compares with 267 for the A300-600 and 218 for the A310. In the more usual three-class long-range cabin configuration the A340 seats 262. Exit- limited capacity of the A330 and A340 is 375 passengers. Flexible toilet and galley locations are provided. Apart from the fuselage stretch, differ ences between the A330 and A340 will be limited, if possible, to those related to the different powerplants. Flightdeck, avionics, fly-by-wire controls, wing, and empennage will be identical, Airbus hopes. Because the long-range A340 is likely to operate from smaller airports as an alter native to the 747, auxiliary landing gear will be fitted to reduce runway loads. This will be optional on the A330. Auxiliary gear will enable growth to higher weights and Airbus is looking at stretched A330/A340 derivatives for the late 1990s. To achieve its longer range, the A340 will carry fuel in the wing, centre section, and in the tailplane trim tank, which is used for drag-reducing centre of gravity control. The A330 will have wing and tail- plane fuel only, leaving 37,3001it of centre- section fuel capacity available for growth versions. Engine options currently available on the twin-jet A330 are the 60,0001b-thrust Pratt & Whitney PW4000 and the 62,5001b-thrust General Electric CF6-80C2. These higher-thrust versions of existing engines will be available in 1990/91. Rolls-Royce has recently asked for details of A330 thrust requirements to see if they can be met by an uprated version of its RB.211-524D4D. Only one engine is currently available on the four-jet A340, and that is the 28,6001b-thrust General Electric/Snecma CFM56-5S2, and uprated version of the A320 engine. This engine gives the A340 a 7,100 n.m. range and will be available in 1990. International Aero Engines (IAE) will offer Airbus either an uprated, 27,5001b-thrust version of its V.2500 A320 engine, or a 30,0001b-thrust ducted, very- high-bypass engine called SuperFan. Based on a V.2500 core driving an RB.211-sized single-rotation, variable- pitch ducted fan through a reduction gear box, SuperFan promises a 15 per cent lower specific fuel consumption than the V.2500. This would increase by 500-1,000 n.m. the 7,000 n.m. range of a V.2500-powered A340. IAE has begun engineering development, aiming to certif icate the SuperFan in April 1991 to meet the A340's May 1992 service-entry dead line. To help offset their longer range, the A330 and A340 will cruise at Mach 0.82, an increase on the A310's Mach 0.78 cruise speed. Wing aspect ratio will be 9.2 against 8.8 for the A310 and leading-edge sweep 30° against 28°. Transonic aerofoil design will be improved over that of the A310 and A320 giving a greater thickness/chord ratio, better structural efficiency, and more fuel volume. Drag- reducing wingtip fences will be standard. The reduced sweep and full-span high- lift devices will give the A330/A340 better 22 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 27 December 1986
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