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Aviation History
1992
1992 - 1259.PDF
MR TRANSPORT KOREAN TAKES FIRST FOKKER 100 DELIVERY Korean Air has taken delivery of the first of nine Fokker 100s. Deliveries will continue until the end of 1994. The Dutch company has also received an order for a further three Fokker 100s from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, which China signed a deal in February for seven of the aircraft. Modified PW4000 nacelle flight-tested Pratt & Whitney and McDon nell Douglas have flight- tested a modified PW4000 engine nacelle on an MD-11 as part of a programme aimed at slashing the engine's drag and fuel burn by more than 5%. Work will concentrate ini tially on improving the fuel burn of the PW4460/MD-11 combina tion, cited as the cause of Sin gapore Airlines' cancellation of an order for MD-lls in 1991. The improvements will also be used in the PW4168 for the Airbus A330 and. the PW4084 for the Boeing 777. Phase 1 of the programme saw a 0.6% improvement in specific fuel consumption (sfc) and was introduced into production en gines in 1991 by changing clear ances at the "back end of the high-pressure compressor [HPC] and modifications to the turbine case cooling and shrink case", says PW4000 engineering prod uct marketing manager Willie Althammer. The improved MD-11 nacelle has a re-contoured casing, which alters the drag profile of the nacelle at high speeds, reducing drag by 0.4%. It will be intro duced on production aircraft in the third quarter of 1992. Phase II, producing an addi tional 0.9% sfc reduction, may be tested on three engines in July this year if early instability problems are "ironed out," ac cording to Althammer. "The per formance is definitely there and has been demonstrated," he adds. Phase II also involves a refinement to the static structure of the HPC to "...keep the con centricity in the ring case de sign" by replacing the segmented unit with a single piece. Phase III, offering a potential of up to 2.5% sfc improvement, will be certificated around April 1993. The work involves several elements, including aerodynamic changes such as reduced clear ances which "in rig testing have already shown a 1% improve ment". Other changes include raising the operating cycle of the high pressure spool and aerody namic alterations to the front end of the compressor. Single- crystal blade and coating tech nology derived from the F119 advanced tactical fighter engine could possibly be introduced from 1994. "Details of continuous im provements, analagous to a phase IV and offering the poten tial for around 1% sfc improve ment, are still being worked out," says Althammer. These are likely to include introduction of a scaled version of the hollow, wide-chord fan blade being de veloped for the PW4084 as well as improved high-pressure tur bine aerodynamics. The improvement programme will eventually be developed using up to 21 test engines. Five will be variants of the 2.38m fan diameter PW4000 testbeds. Eight will be testbeds of the larger 2.46m diameter PW4168 and another eight will be the testbeds for the 2.84m-diameter PW4084. • Battle begins for big Continental contract BY GUY NORRIS IN LOS ANGELES Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney are battling to win a large engine contract from Continental Airlines for a higher-thrust version of the Boe ing 757 twinjet. Continental ordered the 757 in 1990, before it declared itself bankrupt, but still intends to proceed with the purchase under Chapter 11 protection. The con tract covers 25 firm orders and 25 options and is being viewed by the engine makers as particu larly important at a time of widespread order cancellations. Continental's thrust require ment for its 757 engines in cludes a thrust jump to just over 190kN (43,0001b) to cope with hot-and-high conditions at its Denver base, Colorado. The air line confirms that it is "in nego tiation with both manufacturers" but adds that no specific time has been defined for a decision. Pratt & Whitney has defined a higher-thrust PW2000 variant, loosely dubbed the PW204X, to compete for this and other po tential contracts. The engine will be capable of more than 190kN and could be certificated in the mid-1990s, says PW2000 engi neering product marketing man ager Edward Armstrong. The present highest-thrust variant of the PW2000 family, the PW2040, produces a maxi mum take-off thrust of 185.5kN. Rolls-Royce is "actively com peting" with its RB.211-535E4B turbofan, which it supplies to operators such as American Air lines. The highest powered vari ant of the family is rated at between 178kN and 192kN. In the long-running battle be tween the two 757 engine mak ers, P&W claims to have won 51% of all 757 orders with 363 orders and 156 options, while Rolls-Royce says it has clinched 80% of the total number of 757 operators, with 41 customers. • Cambodia International begins service The new Cambodia Interna tional Airlines (CIA) inau gurated on 8 May its schedule of ten flights a week between Phnom Penh and Bangkok. The company, 70% owned by a Thai trading company known as Fuldaa and 30% by the Cam bodian Government, has effec tively taken over as the country's national airline, operating a Boe ing 737 leased from GPA. As a result, Kampuchea Air lines, which has seen its interna tional routes traded by the Department of Civil Aviation to CIA, has been re-organised to operate as a domestic service, using a fleet of old Soviet aircraft and helicopters. \ CIA managing directory Thai businessman Udom Tantjpra- songchai, is also renovating the Pochentong Airport in the Cam bodian capital under a Bt500 million ($20 million) contract awarded to Fuldaa. The project involves refurbishing the exist ing terminal and building a new one within the next two years. CIA is the third airline linking Phnom Penh and Bangkok, fol lowing Bangkok Airways and SK Air, which operates under a charter agreement. Bangkok Air ways operates 14 flights a week using a Fokker 100. The new Cambodian carrier plans to purchase its own air craft and eventually to expand services in the region — initially to Hong Kong and Singapore. • NEWS IN BRIEF KOREAN CONTRACT Korean Air has extended its contract to supply Boeing with parts for the 747-400. The follow-on deal, worth $180 million, covers produc tion of wing-tip extensions and flap-track fairings. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 20-26 May 1992 II
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