FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
2003
2003 - 1696.PDF
It PARIS SHOW REPORT AIR TRANSPORT Sukhoi seeks West's view on RRJ Russian manufacturer opens talks with airlines in effort to ensure regional aircraft design is up to required standard Sukhoi has opened technical dis cussions with Air France and the SkyTeam alliance in a bid to ensure the Russian Regional Jet (RRJ) will meet the needs of Western airlines. "We will analyse their require ments and take them into account in design," says general director Mikhail Pogosyan. Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, which is leading design of the RRJ, is estab lishing an advisory board made up of airlines from Asia, Europe and Latin America, as well as Russia and the CIS. The move to incorporate operator input early in design is an effort to bolster the market for the aircraft, which Pogosyan puts at a "conservative" 800 aircraft, 40% overseas. He expects the RRJ to be 15-20% cheaper than existing large regional jets. The six-version RRJ family is being developed jointly by Sukhoi, Ilyushin, Yakovlev and Boeing. The development cost of "more than $600 million" will be funded from several sources, with 10% coming from the state, and the rest from risk-sharing partners, financial insti tutions and borrowing by the man ufacturer, says Pogosyan. Boeing and Snecma, which will develop the RRJs jointly with NPO Saturn, will "facilitate obtaining adequate financing from international AIR TRANSPORT sources", says Sukhoi. Boeing is making no direct investment in the programme, instead providing assistance with definition of the aircraft, certifica tion, marketing and sales, and after- market support. European and US, as well as Russian, certification is planned, and aftermarket support "will be in line with Western expec tations", the US manufacturer says. Sukhoi is to use the same Dassault/ IBM Catia design system as Boeing, the company says. The RRJ will be built in two fac tories in 60-, 75- and 95-seat ver sions based on a common wing. SEE AIR TRANSPORT P32 P&WC turns to UAVs for PW800 applications Pratt & Whitney Canada is preparing to run a core technol ogy demonstrator for the PW800 engine and is aiming the 10,000-20,000lb thrust (45-89kN) turbofan at unmanned air vehicle applications after failing to launch the engine on either the Chinese or Russian regional jets or, in turboprop form, on the Airbus Military A400M transport. The Canadian company will supply the PW800 core to Pratt & Whitney for its $12.7 million US Navy contract to demonstrate engine technologies for UAV applications. "We will keep up our pace of investment in the PW800, helped by the UAV contract," says Alain Bellemare, P&WC president. He does not expect other regional-jet applica tions for the engine to emerge before the end of the decade. "But, in the short term, the UAV potential is there." First run of the Snecma/NPO Saturn SM146 engine, selected over the PW800 to power the Russian Regional Jet (RRJ), is planned for early 2005, leading to certification in mid-2006, says Snecma president Jean-Paul Herteman. Development of the all-new 14,000-17,0000lb-thrust engine will cost $400 million, funded equally by the two partners, says Saturn general director Yuri Lastochkin. Snecma and Saturn will set up a joint venture to han dle the project, including design, manufacturing and sales, Lastochkin says. Final assembly will be in Russia, and Herteman says Snecma will subcontract some of its share of the engine to Russian companies to reduce manufacturing costs. Hurel-Hispano and a Russian part ner will supply the nacelle and thrust reverser. BUSINESS AVIATION Dual North American approval for Challenger Bombardier has received simultane ous Canadian and US certification for its Challenger 300, four years after the super mid-size business jet was launched at Paris. The all-new design is expected to receive European approval within weeks and enter service by year-end. The Canadian manufacturer had originally scheduled certification of the Challenger 300 (formerly Continental) for September last year, but revised this to early this year to minimise entry-into-service issues. Transport Canada certifica tion was received on 30 May and US Federal Aviation Administration approval on 4 June, two months later than the revised schedule. Bombardier was keen to achieve full type approval with no exemp tions for initial customers, says John Holding, executive vice-president engineering. Certification of the Learjet 40 light business jet, at Paris for the first time, is expected next month, with deliveries beginning early next year. The super-large Global 5000, also making its debut, is to be certificated early next year, leading to service entry late in 2004. Bombardier fractional owner ship programme Flexjet, which has 25 Challenger 300s on firm order, will receive the first aircraft in December. "Flexjet provides us with an excellent data source for function and reliability testing prior to other deliveries," says Bombardier Business Aircraft presi dent Peter Edwards. Several opera tors in the Flexjet Europe block charter programme have aircraft on order, he says. * J#^^C^B 1 » 1^1 1 ^j^^GLOBAL 50OO . ITjF" iff Certification for the all-new Challenger 300 arrives four years after launch at the 1999 Paris air show 30 24-30 JUNE 2003 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.fliqhtinternational.com
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
