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Aviation History
1988
1988 - 0640.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT Shorts plans to put a jet among the props BELFAST Shorts' announcement of its projected 44-seat twinjet regional airliner, the FJX (Fan-Jet Experimental), will do more than raise a few eyebrows. It is planned to put the type on the airways by 1993 or -94. Although the FJX is still a study, and many targets have to be met before launch— including finding a manu facturing partner to share development cost and risk— Shorts has obviously put considerable thought into what is a unique proposition, and has already spent a great deal of time throwing ques tions at design computers. "The affordable regional fan-jet airliner" is the way Shorts bills the FJX. It would have to be distinctly affordable. It would be breaking into the previously unbreached turboprop sanc tum, among the HS.748s, Fokker F.27s, and now the ATR42s and Fokker 50s, where jets have never ventured successfully. In fact it is upon the avail ability of new-generation turbofan power units that the whole project depends for its viability. Pratt & Whitney Canada and General Electric/ Garrett both have small turbofans currently under development, aimed at the new-generation longer-range business jets. It is around the promised performance of these engines that the FJX is designed. By 1990 P&WC will be sell ing its PW300 in an early 4,750'lb-thrust version of an engine which will stretch beyond 6,0001b-thrust. GE/ Garrett's CFE738, the core based on GE's 1983 new- technology demonstrator, would be ready in 1992 at the earliest, offering 5,0001b- thrust immediately and devel opment potential. Garrett says that its engine will deliver 20 per cent improvement on the specific fuel consumption of the current, slightly smaller (3,500-4,5001b) turbofans powering today's bizjets. So with these two basic engines offered (Shorts is not specifying either, but pro poses them both at this early stage), Shorts has competing No-one has succeeded in beating turboprops with jets in this market. Shorts says that the FJX's low costs and new engines will do it power units of the right size (normal take-off thrust speci fied is 5,6001b) which offer an efficiency leap ahead of current small turbofans that are not quite big enough anyway. An FJX today would not be possible, let alone feasible. Shorts sees the market sector—the 20-120-seat bracket—growing at 5-4 per cent through the year 2000. Significantly for its proposed product, it sees aspects of market development appro priate to jets: extended hub spokes, hub bypass routes, and new city pairs. During the period 1994-2008, the manu facturer estimates, there will be a world market for more than 1,000 40-60-seat fanjets, with Shorts taking a 500-unit share. Canadair, with its 48-seat Challenger 601R, is Performance summary Take-off balanced field length at MTOW ISA-sea level ISA + 15'-sea level Take-off, single engine Wat limit at MTOW En-route rate of climb-ISA, max climb power At 10,000ft At 15,000ft At 30,000ft High-speed cruise-ISA, max cruise power, 35,0001b AUW At 30,000ft At 36,000ft Long range cruise-ISA, 35,0001b At 40,000ft 5,380ft 5,640ft 37-6X (100T) at sea level (ISA + 226X) MTOW 2,218ft/min 1,756ft/min 855ft/min 417ktTASat 2 428kt TAS at 1 395kt TAS at 1 Payload/range High speed cruise 44/904 n.m. Long range cruise 44/973 n.m. Long range cruise (max fuel) 31/1,434 n.m. (including reserves for 100 n.m. diversion and 45min hold) Landing field length at MLW ISA-sea level ISA + 15'C-sea level Design airspeeds VC/MC VD/MD 4,280ft 4,450ft j ,208lb/hr ,942lb/hr ,577lb/hr • 310kt EAS/MaohO-75 380kt EAS/Mach 0-83 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL, 19 March 1988
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