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Aviation History
1991
1991 - 2148.PDF
AIR TRANSPORT Chinese battle: Boeing snaps up new 757 orders Boeing has won the latest round in the fight to sell aircraft to China — a battle in which McDonnell Douglas and Airbus Industrie are also com peting fiercely. A deal, signed on 14 August in Beijing, covers the conversion of options to firm orders for 13 Rolls-Royce-powered 757-200s, valued at $800 million. The aircraft should be deliv ered in 1994 and 1995 and will raise to 112 the number of Boeing aircraft bought by China. Thirteen 757s were ordered last year. It is not clear where the new aircraft will be used. The 757 flies on domestic and regional routes at present and is being considered for the Changdu- Lhasa segment, now served by 707s. At 4,360m, Lhasa, Tibet, is one of the world's highest com mercial airports. • NEWS IN BRIEF MONGOLIA BOUND After a hiatus of some 30 years, China resumed flights to Outer Mongolia on 6 Au gust, using a BAe 146 on a twice-a-week service between Beijing and Ulan Bator. The 1,230km (660nm) flight by Air China takes 2h. Services are also planned between Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia, and Ulan Bator. China suspended the flights during a political rift in the 1960s. PENANG AIRPORT The Malaysian Government is to go ahead with a new inter national airport on a key in dustrial, tourist and invest ment centre — the northwest ern island of Penang. Butter- worth AFB, located nearby, will be retained, says trans port minister Ling Liong Sik. No timetable has been re leased for the development. Nearby Butterworth AFB will stay in operation, says the transport minister. GE beefs up GE90 for new 747 BY GUY NORMS IN EVENDALE General Electric (GE) has outlined plans to develop a 425kN (95,0001b)-thrust version of its GE90 turbofan, to power a future 475-700-seat aircraft currently being considered by Boeing (Flight International, 14- 20 August). The engine would retain the original 3.12m-diameter fan of the baseline GE90, but would incorporate improved high- pressure turbine materials to cope with the higher tempera tures associated with a 34kN jump in thrust. Additional power would be obtained through a product- improvement package and a throttle push. The engine would be configured for very-long- range "C" market Boeing 777s from the late 1990s. GE believes the uprated en gine will form one of at least seven main GE90 versions being developed to cater for a big- thrust demand, which the com pany predicts will grow rapidly from 1995, when the first Boeing 777 enters service. On current trends, GE estimates that more than 400 GE90-class (330kN up wards) engines a year will be required by 2010 on an installed basis. In all, the high-thrust market is expected to top 5,000 engines between 1995 and 2010. GE believes that after the year 2000 more than half the demand will come from aircraft other than the 777, such as the new large Boeing, which GE has dubbed the NLA (new large aircraft), the McDonnell Douglas MD-12X and advanced derivatives of the Airbus A330. Other derivatives of the GE90 will include three versions with a reduced 2.92m-diameter fan, aimed at variants of the A330 growth/stretch and the MD-12X. The range covers three power options, starting at 333kN, working through 356kN and finishing at 380kN. The latter would include improved turbine flowpath materials to reflect the higher operating temperatures of the uprated engines. Further off is a 445+kN vari ant, retaining the original GE90 core but incorporating a new fan. The upper limit of the fan size is still expected to be within 3.3m in diameter. Four basic GE90s will enter service initially, led by the 342kN GE90-B3 Standard A for the 777 US domestic/transatlan tic "A" market in August 1995. An enhanced altitude perform ance GE90-B2 will also be of fered at that time, with identical take-off thrust levels but in creased climb and cruise thrust. A higher take-off thrust -B4 engine, rated at 389kN, will be offered for 777 intercontinental/ transatlantic "B" market and "A" stretch aircraft in 1996. A stan dard "B" model -Bl engine, rated at 386kN, is also scheduled to be certificated around this time. • Bedek to convert German 747 Combis The Bedek Aviation division of Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) has won a contract to convert another three Lufthansa Boeing 7^7s from combi to full freight configuration. Bedek has already converted two 747s for the German airline, and a third will be delivered in October. The new $25 million contract includes an option for a fourth aircraft. The 747-200s will start arriving in Israel late this year. IAI insiders say that negotia tions with Lufthansa for further conversion contracts are already under way. In October, the first of ten 747-100s owned by Electra Avia tion, the British-based leasing company, will arrive at the Bedek plant at Ben Gurion Inter national Airport, Tel Aviv. The aircraft, previously part of the Air France fleet, will be converted from passenger to full freight configuration. The con tract involves Section 41 and D checks. To accommodate the growing number of aircraft arriving for conversion, IAI has approved the construction of a third hangar, capable of handling widebody aircraft for Bedek. • KELOWNA STRETCHES CONVAIR 340 Kelowna Flightcraft's stretched Convair 340 is to be marketed by the British Columbia-based company as the Model 5800. The aircraft, stretched by 4.25m, will be completed and rolled out in November. The Allison D22 (T56)-powered aircraft will also feature upgraded avionics, Hamilton Standard propellers, a complete rewiring and structural strengthening (Flight International, J4-20 August). FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 21 - 27 August, 1991
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