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Aviation History
1988
1988 - 0274.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT Boeing hatches -400 duo SEATTLE Boeing Commercial Airplane made aviation history last week by unveiling two new airliners on the same day— the 737-400 and 747-400, reports Julian Moxon. At the same time it salutes 1987 as having been a record year for sales, and admits that it has to make a decision by this year's end on whether or not to increase the 737 production rate. Laser lightshows and syn- thesised music heralded both aircraft in front of some 1,500 invited guests, who were bussed from the 737-400 roll out at the company's Renton facility in the morning to the after-lunch debut of the 747-400 at Everett, 27 miles away. Both airliners are due to fly for the first time in March. Orders for the 146-168-seat 737-400, a 10ft stretch of the highly successful 737-300, stand at 88. Launch customer Piedmont has ordered 25 of the type. The first will be delivered in September, and a further eight by the end of the year. Piedmont, the world's largest 737 operator, took delivery of its 96th 737 (a -300) on the day of the -400 rollout. The airline will be the first to operate three 737 types. Northwest, the 747-400 launch customer, has ten aircraft on order, the first of which will be delivered in December. Boeing has orders for 117 of the type already, and options on 54 more, worth a total of more than $12 billion. The 747-400 has a range of 7,100 n.m. (about 1,000 n.m. further than the 747-300) by virtue of a 6ft wing extension and the addition of 6ft-high winglets. Other advances include a two-crew, all-digital flightdeck, introduction of composites and lighter alloys in some areas, and carbon brakes. The 747-400 will burn up to 15 per cent less fuel than its predecessor, and 25 per cent less than older 747-100s and -200s. (both the 737-400 and 747-400 are fully described in Flight for January 16.) The three development 747-400s will be engined respectively with the Pratt & Whitney PW4000, General Electric CF6-80C2, and Rolls- Royce RB.211-524G. GE is the biggest seller so far on the type, with six of the 18 customers signed up. P&W and R-R have clocked up three each, and six airlines have yet to decide. While Boeing's orderbook is full as never before, and deliveries last year broke all records (161 737s came off the line), the future is cloudy. Executive vice-president Richard Albrecht says "1987 was a very, very good year". Boeing won just over half the $38-5 billion market for airliners in 1987, he said, 75 per cent of which consisted of orders by non-US airlines. But the "questionable" US economy, the fact that the 737 is sold out for several years (raising the difficult question of whether to increase the production rate), and the probable end of the first rush of 747-400 orders are all matters for concern, said Albrscht While the 747-400 con tinues Boeing's unassailable monopoly over the top end of the market for widebody airliners, the 737-400 clashes head-on with the Airbus Industrie A320—a competi tion that is forcing Boeing to trim its prices to as much as $4 million below the $32 million charged for the Euro pean 150-seater. The A320 has the appeal of newer flight- deck and flight control tech nology, and is likely to be slightly more fuel-efficient when it enters service. But the 737-400 has the advantage of commonality with its smaller brothers, the -300, and the 110-seat -500, which is intended to replace the origi nal JT8D-powered 737-200 (the -500 rolls out in May 1989). Boeing says it will increase the 737 production rate at the end of next year, "if there is a sustained requirement," says Albrecht. Orion paints its Airbus British charter carrier Orion bought this Airbus Industrie A300B4 from Lufthansa in the spring of last year, and was then so busy with the aircraft all summer that it had no time to apply its own livery. During "the traditional winter lull", as Orion puts it, the aeroplane was ferried to Hong Kong for a "D" check overhaul and repainting by the Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company (Haeco). ORION MPR r Beech sells new commuter WICHITA Beech Aircraft has won launch sales for a new 13-seat commuter aircraft based on the King Air, the Beech 1300 Commuter. New Mexico- based Mesa Airlines has become the launch customer for the type, with orders for five and options on three more. The initial order is valued at over $10 million, and deliv eries will start this year. The aeroplane is based on the King Air 200, although it has been modified to meet FAR part 135 appendix A. A second emergency exit and fire extin guishers have been added, as well as lights and oxygen outlets above every seat. The 3,0001b payload with the twin Pratt & Whitney PT6A-42 engines makes it "unmatched in its class", Beech says. The -42 engines have the same 850 s.h.p. as the -41s, but torque can be main tained to higher altitudes. The zero fuel weight of the Beech 1300 is 11,0001b. The Beech 1300 has a 44ft3 belly cargo pod which, combined with the baggage compartment in the nose, gives a total cargo capacity of 57ft3. The aircraft is designed to meet the requirements of airlines which have long thin routes, Beech says. US regionals seek cover WASHINGTON D.C. With the New Year barely under way, two US commuter airlines have already filed for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the Federal bankruptcy code. AVAir, based in Raleigh and operating as an American Eagle Commuter airline, has grounded its 200 flights a day, at least until a reorganisation plan can be prepared. In Fort Lauderdale, Sun- coast Airlines filed for protec tion after agents for Airways International, of Cardiff, Wales, took steps to seize a Boeing 737 being operated by Suncoast. Resumption of service will go ahead if the court approves, Suncoast officials said. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 6 February 1988
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