FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
2001
2001 - 2331.PDF
PARIS 2001 POWERPLANTS Engine firms battle for new business Engine builders are competing to supply powerplants for several business jets expected to be launched in the near future. Honeywell has offered a new engine, the FX5, to power Dassault's FNX next-generation Falcon business jet, unveiled at the show, while Pratt & Whitney Canada is offering a 10% growth version of its PW308 turbofan. The6,000lb-thrust(27kN) FX5 is a geared turbofan based on a technology demonstrator core under test, and could be certificated within 36 months of a go-ahead, says Victor Valente, director business development, Honeywell Engines & Systems. The FX5 is the first in a planned family spanning 3,000- to 8,000lb-thrust. Design goals include a 20%-plus reduction in cost of ownership compared with the company's TFE731 -60. P&WC has "high expecta tions" of securing a launch application for its PW600 small turbofan in the near future, says president and chief executive Gilles Quimet. The unidentified application for the 2,500lb-thrust engine is a light business jet in the same class as the Cessna Citation CJ2 and Raytheon Premier I, he says. A technology demonstrator for the 1,000- to 2,500lb-thrust PW600 will run in the fourth quarter, followed by flight testing in the first quarter of next year. Quimet says the company hopes to secure another busi ness jet application for its 3,000- to 5,000lb-thrust PW800 turbo fan "in the next year". P&WC has an unannounced international unmanned air vehicle applica tion for the engine, he says. Quimet hopes to secure a launch customer "in 12-18 months" for its 10,000-to 20,000lb-thrust PW800 geared turbofan aimed at regional jets. The Advanced Fan Technology Integrator demonstrator, first run in March, is due tor flight testing early next year. Certification will take 36 months from launch. DEVELOPMENT Boeing model reveals details More information about the configuration of the sonic cruiser's engines has emerged Boeing unveiled a scale model of its proposed high subsonic airliner, and provided the first opportunity for the industry to see the US man ufacturer's current plans on the critical issue of engine installation. Until the model was unveiled by Boeing Commercial Airplanes president Alan Mulally, the only information on the sonic cruiser's configuration came from artist's impressions which deliberately did not show the aircraft's underside. While Boeing acknowledges the configuration is likely to be subject to much change as it is refined, the model provides an insight into the company's studies on how to install two high-thrust turbofans with the minimum of drag. The intakes on the model resem ble those of the Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter, although they are angled outwards. As with the mili tary aircraft, the intakes stand off from the airframe and clear of the turbulent boundary layer, ensuring clean air enters the shallow S-ducts feeding the engines. The US manufacturer says that it expects engine technology, future Engine intakes resemble those of the F-16 fighter, but are angled outwards manufacturing and structures tech nology evolving over the next five to 10 years will allow the sonic cruiser to match the operating costs of today's 300-seat aircraft. Boeing is considering some radical ideas for the sonic cruiser's con struction, including an all-compos ite wing. Although Mach 0.95-0.98 is the publicly quoted target cruise-speed, there is also the possibility that the DEVELOPMENT Airbus bows out of the race Airbus seems happy to leave high-speed airliners to Boeing, claiming that the market will be driven primarily by improving economics rather than by reducing journey times. Certain sectors of the industry have nicknamed Boeing's proposed sonic cruiser design the "chronic snoozer". Airbus chief executive Noel Forgeard says that he is surprised at the interest being shown "in an aircraft that has a 20% increase in fuel consumption for a marginal increase in speed". Airbus does not believe the concept is the answer to replacing the 767/ A300. It has "significant fuel consumption, noise and environmental issues", says Forgeard. Airbus has studied a number of high speed, transonic and supersonic configurations for future projects, but remains convinced that improvements in efficiency is where the future of civil aviation lies. Although it acknowledges that there may be a small "premium market" for an aircraft that reduces journey tirnes, the European manufacturer claims its studies of a high subsonic speed airliner suggest that the economics would make the aircraft unattractive. "Our analysis suggests that Boeing's sonic cruiser would have seat mile costs at least 50% higher than the A380," says Airbus vice president market ing Colin Stuart. "The current configuration seems to be as long as a 747-400, but only seats 225 passengers. Its wing area is similar to that of the A380 and the aircraft has two 90,0001b thrust engines - the installed thrust of a 300-seater class aircraft like the 777 or A340." Based on this analysis, Airbus forecasts that the sonic cruiser would have a fuel burn per seat 20% higher than current 300-seaters, and direct operat ing costs per seat some 20-25% higher, adds Stuart. aircraft could be supersonic, as many industry observers had already suspected. "This aircraft has two [cruise speed] 'sweet spots', one of which could be a little bit faster than Mach 1," says Mulally. The concept has been extremely well received in the marketplace, says Mulally: "One customer said it would take the first 300 aircraft... the first three years of production. We think there is a possible market for several thousand, maybe more." According to industry sources, Boeing is expecting demand to be so strong that it may be able to charge premium prices to initial customers as they vie to purchase early delivery slots. Boeing is also studying the possibility of leasing, rather than selling, the aircraft to keep control of the after-market services business. Boeing is already playing down earlier talk of a 2006 in-service date, with 2008 now seen as the earliest that the new aircraft will be avail able. "We are saying that deliveries will begin between 2006-2008, but we believe it will be towards the end of that timeframe," says John Roundhill, Boeing's vice president of marketing, new airplane pro gramme. "It is highly probable it will be in service this decade." Roundhill says that the design definition process will probably last at least a year, and "it would take some time to get the programme committed to launch". This would probably be around 18 months. www.fliqhtinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 26 JUNE - 2 JULY 2001 15
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
