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Aviation History
1999
1999 - 1787.PDF
l£j\l>LW*3 BAe eyes new way to Airbus SEC BRITISH Aerospace says it is prepared to put its share of Airbus Industrie up for an immedi ate merger with France's Aero spatiale Matra or DaimlerChrysler (Dasa)/CASA following the announcment of the intended merger between the German and Spanish companies. BAe executive director Mike Turner welcomed the deal between the two Airbus partners, but says what is needed now is "another bilateral to take us from three to two", and that this should be "at the level of Airbus". He adds: "Even three people around the table is too many. If we have two, I think it can happen. It may be possible for three people around a table to get together, but I doubt it." Turner says that it does not mat ter which of the remaining three Airbus players get together first, but he says BAe is ready to throw its Airbus interests into a bilateral deal, and hints that his company would not be averse to an Anglo- French agreement. "We've never had a problem with Aerospatiale Matra about Airbus," he says. "The trouble was putting the whole of BAe into a merger with Aerospatiale when it was a state-owned company. While emphasising that pro gress is necessary on Airbus, BAe chief executive John Weston says he regards global options as all- important. He says that his compa ny was keen to make a transadantic move when possible. J Airbus is working to ensure that the new ultra-long-range A340 meets customer requirements New A340 faces weight problem GUY NORRIS AND ANDREW DOYLE/PARIS AIRBUS INDUSTRIE is bat tling to overcome weight problems threatening a payload/ range shortfall on its A3 40- 500 and -600 models with a weight-reduc tion programme and die possible introduction of higher operating weights and uprated engines. Separately, Pratt & Whitney is expected to decide by die end of this year whether to pursue devel opment of a geared-fan engine to offer as an alternative to die Trent 500 on the new Airbus models. Airbus declines to comment on die performance shortfall, but sources close to the programme say die maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of the A340-500/600 may have to be increased by around 6.8t to meet range guarantees given to early customers. In dieir current 365t-MTOW configura tion, the -500 and -600 fall around 740km (400nm) short of their tar get ranges, say the sources. The A340-600 is due to enter service in 2002. Initial subassem blies are in production. Rolls-Royce says it can meet any increase in thrust that might be required widi die Trent 500, but is believed to have accelerated studies on applying its "swept fan" tech nology to this engine. Use of the swept fan would provide extra thrust without increasing weight, and reduce fuel consumption. Among options under consider ation to save weight is the removal of the outboard dirust reversers. An earlier plan to shed another 500kg by removing the over-wing exits on the A340-600 has been dropped due to certification issues. DaimlerChrysler Aerospace Airbus president Gustav Humbert says the weight issue is "not such a big problem. It does not worry us too much", he adds. Airbus says the aircraft will be delivered "to specification, to guar anteed performance or better, and to our customers' satisfaction". Meanwhile, P&Ws studies of a 60,000lb-thrust (270kN) geared- fan engine, internally designated the PW8160, could lead to the US manufacturer joining the A3 40- 500/600 programme as an alterna tive powerplant supplier by around 2006. R-R's exclusive engine deal with Airbus on the -500/600 will expire by then. P&W will decide this year on whether the PW8160 studies are worth pursuing, say industry sources. The engine, based on a scaled-up PW6000 core with a re designed fan and low-pressure tur bine, would take around five years to develop and could be available as early as 2004, possibly as a 767 powerplant, the sources add. P&W believes geared-fan technology offers die prospect of significandy reduced fuel consumption, com pared with conventional turbofans. Although Airbus has encour aged P&W to look at die technical feasibility of a geared-fan engine for the A340, no talks have taken place at a commercial level. P&W has scaled back earlier plans to develop a geared fan engine for the A3 20 family and is working on a higher-thrust version of the V2 500 widi its International Aero Engines partners. • See Paris Show Report, P29 Boeing aims extended range 737 at transatlantic business traffic BOEING IS firming up plans for an extended range 737- 700ERX that would carry a typical load of around 60 business class pas sengers on "thin market" routes up to 7,400km (4,000nm) in length. "This aircraft is 'offerable' and die development time to do diat is less than two years," says product strategy and development vice- president, John Roundhill. Describing the long-range twin as the "ultimate fragmentor" of trunk services, he adds diat winglets will be "made available". A blended winglet design for the 7 3 7 has been flight tested on a 737-800 and is being marketed by newly formed Aviation Partners Boeing for Next Generation operators. Lauda Air is among airlines diat have either ordered or expressed strong inter est in the modification. The 737-700ERX builds on the Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) that combines the wings, engines and gear of the -800 with die fuselage of the -700. Like the BBJ, the -700ERX will also use up to four auxiliary fuel tanks similar to diose developed by BBJ supplier PATS. The aircraft will seatup to 13 8 peo ple in some configurations, so could be used by charter operators for long-range missions. Boeing foresees the -700ERX as catering to specialist business oper ations, however, with up to 60 pas sengers in 1.4m (55in) pitch seating, or a mix of business and economy witii 75 seats. • Boeing rounded-off $3 billion worth of new order announce ments at the Paris air show by revealing further deals widi several operators for an additional 21 Next Generation 737s, one 757 and diree 767s. Tarom ordered four 737-700s and four -800s, Lauda Air is to take one 767-300ER, Delta Air Lines wants six 737-800s, one 757-200 and two 767-300Ers, HapagLloyd signed for one 737-800 and Southwest Airlines requires six 737-700s. • 4
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