FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1992
1992 - 1488.PDF
REGIONAL AIRLINER DIRECTORY Continued from P 68 on 6 December, 1991, with JAR25 certification scheduled for late 1992 and US approval in 1993. Deliveries are expected to first customer- Sunshine Aviation in early 1993, having slipped from the initial plan of late 1992. The aircraft will seat 30 passengers, and has a length of 21.08m and a wingspan of 20m. The 328 is expected to cruise at 345kt (640km/h Mach 0.59). The manufacturer says that the higher speed will permit it to be sequenced with jets on runway approaches. Dornier studies have indicated a potential for 400 aircraft sales up to the year 2006. The fuselages are manufactured by Aermacchi in Italy from sub-assemblies built by Korea's Daewoo Heavy Industries. The cockpit is equipped with Honeywell Primus 2000 digital avionics, based around five screens. Dornier has been planning several versions of the 328, includ ing a 39-passenger, four-abreast model, a stretched-fuselage variant for 50 passengers (the 328S), a 30-passenger, quick-change model incor porating a 1.7m x 1.4m cargo door, an all-cargo variant and an executive model. 328S The stretched 328S was' revealed in October 1992 as a 48-seat turboprop, following canvassing of 40 operators which were asked to choose among 42-, 45- and 48- to 50-seat versions. Dornier believes that up to the year 2010 more than 50% of the estimated $60 billion regional- aircraft market will be in the 40- to 69-seat area. Referred to by some as a "328-200", the stretched model will have two fuselage plugs (adding 6.86m) and two wing plugs (introducing an additional 2.6m to the span). A launch decision is expected by mid-1992 (perhaps at the ILA '92 show in Berlin), and the aircraft could be available by early 1996. Dornier is talking to Pratt & Whitney Canada about an engine but has not committed itself to a supplier. More-powerful engines are required to maintain the 345kt (640km/h) cruise speed. The aircraft also require reinforced landing gear, revised engine nacelles, larger propellers and new tyres, wheels and brakes. EMBRAER (Brazil) EMB-110 Bandeirante (Pioneer) Production ended with the 500th aircraft, delivered in 1990. The Brazilian air force bought 156, 133 of which are utility transports and 22 are for maritime- patrol duties. The appeal to commuter airlines of this 18-seat, twin-turboprop was enhanced by the availability of an increased-take-off-weight SFAR 41 version of both the EMB-110-P1 passenger/ cargo aircraft and the -P2 all-passenger version, designated -P1A/41 and -P2A/41, respectively. The first production aircraft flew in August 1972. EMB-120 Brasilia The 30-seat pressurised Brasilia is powered by two l,350kW (l,800shp) Pratt & Whitney Canada PW118s. Orders stand at almost 500 aircraft, of which 250 have been delivered. Embraer offers a "hot-and-high" version powered by PW118A turboprops and introduced in 1986. Utah-based Skywest was the first customer to order this type. An extended-range version with a full passenger payload range of 1,670km (900nm) was certificated in early 1992. The standard aircraft has a range of 925km (500nm). Greater range results from the higher take-off weight which has grown from 11,500kg to 12,000kg. A retrofit programme is available for standard aircraft. The Brasilia was certificated in Brazil in May 1985 and in the USA in July of the same year. The first delivery was to Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Atlanta, in August 1985. DLT became the first European operator in January 1986. Embraer says flying time has reached l,500,000h and landings 1,700,000. EMB-145 Amazon Late in 1991, the Brazilian manufacturer revised the layout again for its first turbofan-powered civil aircraft, following a com plete re-evaluation. An advisory committee for the project met for the first time in February 1992. Announced in June 1989, it is based upon the Brasilia fuselage, stretched to accommodate up to 48 passengers seated three-abreast. Fuselage plugs will be inserted ahead of and behind the wing, increasing the length by 5.47m to 25.47m. A further stretch to 50-55 passengers has been suggested, ultimately limited by a 12° rotation angle, according to Embraer. The latest design shows two rear-fuselage-mounted engines. Origi nally, two 32kN (7,2001b)-thrust Allison GMA3007 turbofans were to have been mounted above and ahead of the wing to give a 430kt Exactly 500 Bandeirantes were produced (800km/h) maximum cruise speed over 1,660km (900nm). In 1991, this was revised with a 22.3° swept wing (at 25% chord) and underslung 31.8kN engines in a configuration which Embraer subsequently claimed produced less drag than expected. Windtunnel testing was expected to confirm a cruise speed of not less than Mach 0.8. Seat pitch will stay unchanged at 790mm. Em braer continues to look for partners to share the $350 million development costs. First flight of the prototype, previously expected by the end of 1990, has been held up by Embraer's financial troubles and is expected now to be in late 1994. The programme was put back six months in late 1990, when Embraer held letters of interest covering more than 337 aircraft and remained convinced of the project's viability. A Brazilian Government loan of $600 million was reported in early June, permitting acceleration of the pro gramme. EMBRAER/FAMA XBraziVArgentia) CBA-123 Production launch of the CBA-123 Vector was postponed in November 1990 pending a re-assessment of the market and an attempt to reduce the aircraft's cost, following Brazilian Government cutbacks. The partners have been considering options to salvage the project, includ ing the possible sale of the fuselage design. Embraer plans to ask both the Brazilian and Argentinian Governments to underwrite enough aircraft to justify production. Two manufacturers — one of which may be Israel Aircraft Industries — are reported by Embraer chief executive Ozires Silva to have requested use of the fuselage in their own designs. Embraer flew the prototype of this 19-seater, in which it has $200 million share, on 18 July, 1990. A second aircraft flew in March 1991 and the two aircraft had logged more than 500h in the 1,1 OOh test and certification pro gramme. A third prototype is scheduled to fly in Argentina this year. Having started the project in 1985 as the private-venture EMB-123, Embraer was joined by FAMA of Argentina, which took a one-third share of the project, in 1987. The designation then became Co-operation Brazil Argentina CBA-123. A super-critical-section wing was developed and mated to the shortened Brasilia 19-seat fuselage. The 970kW (l,300hp) Garrett TPF351-20 powerplants, driving six- bladed low-rpm Hartzell propellers, are mounted pusher-style on the rear fuselage, intended to provide passengers with a smooth, noise-free ride previously only available in jets, according to Embraer. Rockwell-Collins electronic flight in struments will be standard and the latest avionics, using auto-diagnosis, will be fitted to reduce pilot workload and aid fault identification and rectifi cation. Embraer says that CBA-123 development, including series-production tooling, would cost around $300 million, split two-thirds to Embraer, one-third to FAMA. Separate assembly lines will be operated in Argentina and Brazil. Certification was scheduled for August 1992. Embraer's market research forecasts a demand for around 2,000 aircraft in the pressurised 19-seat category up to the year 2005 and the CBA-123 is aimed at winning at least a 30% share of this market. By late 1991, the aircraft, priced at 4.8 million, had attracted 113 options. FAIRCHILD AIRCRAFT (USA) Fairchild Aircraft, owned since September 1990 by Fairchild Acquisition (led by former Wings West chairman Carl Albert), continues to trade under its former name. Fairchild Aircraft Services has been created to support the more than 900 examples of the Metro and its variants. Deliveries of some 43 aircraft (including government/ military machines) are planned for delivery in 1992, compared with just 12 in 1991. Metro III and Expediter The standard 19- to 20-passenger Metro III (an Ed Swearingen design) has been superseded by an increased maximum take-off weight variant, the Metro 23 (see below). Fairchild has introduced an all-cargo version, the Expediter. This model has a reinforced cabin floor and a reduced empty weight, permitting a maximum cargo payload of more than 2,168kg. Metro 23 Following selection of the Metro III as the basis for the US Air Force C-26 programme, Fairchild has incorporated many of the increased performance characteristics in the Metro 23. The 750kW (l,000shp) Garrett TPE331-ll-powered aircraft received US FAR 23 certification in June 1990, -12 powered versions being approved in September 1990. Under a change of legislation, Australia granted automatic type approval in late 1990. The Metro 23 offers a 10% higher payload at 2,323kg, 7% more cruise speed (294kt 540km/ h), higher gross weight (up 3% to 7,490kg) and greater zero-fuel weight (6,580kg (14,5001b)). The aircraft is powered by Garrett TPE331-12 engines with water injection and reserve power. TPE331-lls are an option. FOKKER (The Netherlands) Fokker 50 A hot-and-high Series 300, now called the "high-performance" version, and a stretched Srs 400 variant of the Fokker 50 were announced in 1990. The 2,050kW (2,750hp) flat-rated Pratt & Whitney PW127B turboprop engine, offering 10% greater take-off power than the Srs 100's PW125B, has been chosen for the Srs 300 and 400. The family, now called the "Fokker 50 Spectrum", consists of the baseline Series 100/120 (offering 46-58 seats), the Srs 300/320 (46-58 72 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 10 - 16 June, 1992
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
