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Aviation History
1991
1991 - 2339.PDF
COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT OF THE WORLD type. Options and other commitments total 197. The four years of development culminated in FAA certification of the GE CF6-80C2 powered version on 8 November, 1990. The P&W PW4460-powered aircraft was certificated in December, following 258 flights to a total of 373 flight hours. Category IIIB automatic landings in fog down to 91m with Honeywell's automatic flight system are also certificated by the FAA. The MD-11 first flight took place on 10 January, 1990, from Long Beach, California. Three versions of the MD-11 are available. The 320-passenger MD-11 with a range of 13,700km, a freighter with a 91t uplift and a Combi, which carries both passengers and freight, capable of taking ten pallets on the main deck, with additional freight below the main deck. At 61.2m the aircraft is 5.66m longer than the DC-10 which it succeeds. Seating capacities on the standard aircraft range from 250 passengers in a three-class arrangement, to more than 400 in an all-economy layout. The company claims that the MD-11 provides more combined con tainerised or palletised cargo capacity than any other airliner. The baseline MD-11 has a two-man glass cockpit and the aircraft will weigh in at some 273,300kg. Aerodynamic improvements include winglets and a redesigned wing trailing edge, a smaller horizontal tail with integral fuel tanks and an extended tail-cone, all ol which are expected to reduce drag, save fuel and add range. Two powerplants are being offered, GE's CF6- 80C2 and the P&W PW4460. The R-R Trent 650-powered version has been shelved following the demise of launch customer Air Europe, which had orders and options totalling 18 of this variant. The PW4460-powered third prototype MD-11 made its maiden flight at the end of April 1990 and, after initial trials over the Pacific, flew to the company's Yuma, Arizona, test centre. MDC has held preliminary talks with Aeroflot in Moscow about the MD-11, as well as its other models exhibited at the Moscow airline and airport show last year. MD-11 production started in November 1988 and the first aircraft was being painted in August 1989. The first aircraft flew with CF6-80C2 engines up to certification of the airframe/engine combi nation. The GE-powered second and fourth aircraft were used to test and certificate the Honeywell digital avionics, while aircraft number three was certificated with P&W PW4460 en gines. 'The five flight-test aircraft were to be refur bished once testing was complete, before being delivered to the first customers. Stretched versions of MD-11 are planned as the MD-12X, with a 10.4m fuselage extension. The first will be a shorter-range, 303,500kg, higher- payload variant. The wing will be changed, having the trailing edge aft of the rear spar redesigned and extended, with a new higher- efficiency aerofoil section. New flaps and ailerons are to be incorporated, the spars and ribs will have gauge changes for additional strength. A new lour-wheel centre landing-gear bogie will also be needed. The engines will be as on the standard aircraft. The second MD-12 stretched model will have a completely new wing and regain the range of the original aircraft, with the increased payload. The MD-12 would probably be built at Long Beach on a common production line with the MD-11. Tt would cost about S15 million more than the MD-11 in mixed-class 372-seat configu ration. Some way in the future is the 297,000kg, 380-seat MD-11 superstretch. The company has also talked about an MD-11 twin. Douglas now has a risk-sharing partner for the MD-12 if the rewinged aircraft project goes ahead. Mitsui of Japan plans to pay in advance for up to $1 billion worth of MD-12s it intends to order, thus aiding the development cost, expected to be around S2 billion plus investment in plant and tooling of a further $1 billion. Mitsui would receive its own aircraft when deliveries start in 1995 and an agreed amount for every MD-12 delivered. British Airways and Japan Air Lines (JAL) are potential launch customers for the MD-12. British Airways needs a replacement for its Ixickheed TriStar fleet. JAL needs to replace its DC-lOs and also wants more capacity. American Airlines has increased its order to 19 aircraft, the largest airline order for the type. American is having pre-delivery modifications and fitting-out work done in the UK by Marshall of Cambridge. Delta Airlines has ordered 13 PW4460-powered MD-1 Is and leased two more for earlier delivery, for two and a half years from November 1990, to inaugurate an MD-11 service from Los Angeles to Japan. Programme status: orders 170; options, 139; other commitments 69 (from 32 customers); delivered 15; total, 378. Production rate one a week. Delivered/ on order Options Aero Lloyd (5) 2 Air Outre Mer (4) 4 Air Zaire (2) Alitalia (6) 7 American Airlines 2(17) 35 CAAC (4) China Eastern Airlines 1 (5) Delta 2(13) 31 EVA Airways (6) Federal Express 1(12) 6 Finnair 1(3) Garuda (10) 3 GPA (15)* ILFC (5) Japan Airlines (10) 10 JAT (4) 1 Kl.M (10) 5 Korean Air 2(3) LTU (4 Minerve (4) • 1 Mitsui 2(3) Nigeria Airways (1 Swissair 3(9) Thai International 1(3) Vang (6 Viasa • (2) 1 Zambia Airwavs (1) ZAS Egypt (1) 1 170 139 *plus Garuda 6, Varig 2 Antonov An-124 SOVIET AND EASTERN EUROPEAN MANUFACTURERS Aviaexport USSR Ministry of Aviation Industry, 48 Ivana Franko Street, Moscow 121351, USSR. Tel: +7 (417) 0055; Telex: 411929/411257. The Soviet aerospace industry, while still suffer ing frustration at the pace of change following the relaxation in East-West relations, is pursuing Western technology and collaboration as a way of speeding up progress of its major civil transport aircraft projects. Antonov (Address: see Aviaexport) Antonov and Ilyushin are studying a possible joint development of a 550-seat development of the An-124, known as the 11-96-550. Initial concepts show 190 passengers seated on the upper and 360 on the lower of two decks, in a fuselage section similar to that of the An-124. Powered by Kuznetzov 175kN contra-rotating ducted propfans which are presently running in prototype form, the aircraft would normally operate with 512 passengers over a range of 8,000km. Antonov An-74 The An-74 is a general-purpose freighter developed from the An-72. Although it is a regular visitor to airshows in the West, there are no confirmed reports that the An-74 has entered commercial service with Aeroflot. With a 5t payload it has true short take-off and landing capability. It has also been mentioned specifically as an Arctic/Antarctic aircraft and can be fitted with skis. The An-74 Coaler-B remains essentially similar to the An-72 Coaler, which first flew in late 1977, but has a modified wing and extended fuselage. The unusual high-wing design makes use of upper-surface blowing to increase lift. The origi nal aircraft was designed to be capable of flying 10,000kg for 1,000km from a 1,200m runway. It was powered by twin Lotarev D-36 engines. MTOW was 30,500kg. Production An-74s have 65.7kN-thrust engines and an MTOW of 34,500kg. In a passenger role it is capable of taking 58 people, but it may be essentially a freighter to complement the 11-76. It has also been described as a replacement for the An-26 turboprop freighter. An airborne early warning and control version, known as Madcap to NATO, has been photographed. It has a rotodome mounted on the top of the fin. Programme status: In production against a spe cialist civil and military requirement. Antonov An-124 Soviet military An-124s have been called in to assist Aeroflot with heavy civil-cargo flights, when even the airline's own substantial fleet is unable to cope. Soviet Military Transport Aviation is better able to cope with freight as Aeroflot itself is limited mainly to passenger transport. Air Foyle, based at Luton Airport in the UK, has an agreement to manage commercial cargo operations using the An-124 Ruslan from Aer oflot. In 1989, the company took on the sales, leasing, and charter agency for Antonov aircraft FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 4 - 10 September, 1991 65
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