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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 2054.PDF
HEADLINES AIR TRANSPORT GUY NORRIS / LOS ANGELES Trent to lead 7E7 after landing ANA Twinjet to be first all-new Boeing widebody with R-R power Rolls-Royce's Trent 1000 will be the lead engine on the Boeing 7E7 fol lowing its selection by All Nippon Airways (ANA) for the airline's fleet of 50 aircraft on order for entry into service from 2008. The pivotal decision makes the 7E7 the first all-new Boeing wide- body to be launched into service with a Rolls-Royce engine. Not counting the 777-300 stretch, which was led by the Trent 800, it marks only the second time a new Boeing airliner has been launched with a powerplant from the UK manufacturer, the first being the 757 - the last example of which is due for roll-out this month. R-R defeated General Electric's GEnx proposal to win ANA. The selection comes as Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) joins Mit subishi Heavy Industries (MHI) as a risk- and revenue-sharing partner in the Trent 1000. KHI will assemble and supply the intermediate pres sure (IP) compressor module with an 8.5% programme share. MHI has 7%, which involves the combustor and low-pressure (LP) turbine. Negotiations on the remaining part nerships are "well advanced". Neither R-R nor GE have yet been fully briefed by ANA on the reasons for the engine selection, although sources say the final choice "came down to the money". Trent 1000 chief engineer Andy Geer says the Trent 1000 will be built as a single bill of material across all three versions. It will be certificated at around 70,0001b thrust (312kN) for the stretched 7E7-9, but will be derated to 63,0001b and 64,0001b thrust on the initial 7E7-3 and -8 variants, respec tively. ANA is scheduled to take 20 -8s and 30 domestic Japanese short- range -3 versions, with the initial -8s due for delivery in 2008. The final design of the Trent 1000, with a 10:1 bypass ratio and 50:1 total overall compression ratio, is due to be frozen by February 2005, with first engine to test scheduled for mid-February 2006. The basic test, development and certification effort will involve seven sea-level engines and a flight test Trent 1000. Rig tests are already under way, a key example being tests on an IP coupling device, which will be used to take up to 700hp (520kW) power off the IP shaft for the 7E7's "more- electric" systems. By taking power off the IP rather than the more con ventional HP shaft, R-R believes the Trent 1000 design will be more effi ciently matched and, in the case of the -3 operational cycle, should reduce comparative fuel burn by up to 6%. Fuel savings ove'f the longer range legs of the typical -8 missions will be around 1%, "which is still positive" says Geer. SPACEFLIGHT TIM FURNISS / LONDON Shuttle plan threatens ISS The International Space Station (ISS) will not be completed if the Space Shuttle is retired as planned in 2010, NASA has revealed. The agency has released a preliminary planning manifest for Space Shuttle missions that reveals that the next ISS assembly mission, STS 1151 Atlantis, will not take place until early 2006 and that the orbiter Atlantis, one of just three craft left from the original fleet of five, could be out of action for 22 months for sched uled maintenance after this mission. This will leave only Discovery and Endeavourlo complete the assembly and servicing of the ISS, before Atlantis returns, taking the fleet beyond the 2010 deadline for the Space Shuttle to be grounded as dictated by President George Bush's space exploration initiative. Discovery is also scheduled for a 14-month requalifica- tion in 2008-9, when it will be grounded. According to the manifest, 28 Shuttle missions need to be flown in 68 months to complete the ISS. Briefing Airbus scoops CSA win ORDER Airbus has beaten Boeing to win an order for 12 narrowbodies from state-owned CSA Czech Airlines worth about CKr11 billion ($430 million). Chairman of the Czech flag carrier's supervisory board Eduard Janota says the European manufacturer offered favourable financial terms. CSA will receive six A319s and six A320s in 2006-8, powered by CFM International CFM56 engines. It will also take three A320s and two A321s on operating lease, with the former to be introduced in April 2005 and the latter in June the same year. Russian security holes exposed SAFETY After new security measures were put in place at Russian airports this month, Russian media reports that the authorities ran an exercise to test their effectiveness at Voronezh airport using three different agents. All three succeeded in breaching security. In one case, despite being warned of an attack by a named person with a car, the number of which was given, the individual got through security with no difficulty and got a baggage worker to take a package on to a Polet flight by paying him Rb500 ($17). Tempelhof reprieve? AIRPORTS SN Brussels Airlines is looking into the possibility of maintaining scheduled daily services to city-centre airport Berlin Tempelhof after a German court ruled that the airport has to remain open until the new Berlin Brandenburg airport is finished and operational. The decision means Tempelhof will not close at the end of this month as had been announced. Finmeccanica reshuffles management RESTRUCTURING The board of Finmeccanica has approved a major management reshuffle. Giovanni Castellaneta, currently diplomatic adviser to Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, has been appointed group vice- president. Giorgio Zappa, president of Alenia Aeronautica, becomes chief executive of Finmeccanica. Marco Zanichelli, the former managing director of Alitalia, becomes assistant to Finmeccanica president Pierfrancesco Guarguaglini. Ottawa backs CSeries AID The Canadian government says it will partner Bombardier to help it develop a new 110- to 130-seat aircraft, which the company says will cost C$2 billion ($1.6 billion) to bring to market. Bombardier says if it cannot get financing from Canada, the aircraft could be built in the UK or the USA, where it already has manufacturing facilities. Federal transport minister Jean Lapierre says he held new discussions with Bombardier on 13 October and told the company Ottawa will be a partner and will not let Bombardier leave Canada until the government has done everything "humanly possible" to prevent the project from leaving the country. Israeli air force eyes Javelin trainer PROCUREMENT The Israeli air force could become the launch customer for an advanced military trainer based on the Javelin very light jet developed by the USA's Advanced Technology Group and Israel Aircraft Industries. Sources at the Israeli company say the air force had a "major input" in the design of the twin-engined aircraft, which could serve as a replacement for its locally built Fouga C-170 Zukit (Magister) and McDonnell Douglas A-4 Skyhawk trainers. FAA buys Global 5000 RESEARCH The US Federal Aviation Administration's Technical Center has ordered a Bombardier Global 5000 business jet for delivery in September 2005 in a contract worth $24.8 million. The aircraft will serve as an airborne research and development laboratory for flight testing of a range of "forward-looking" aviation safety, navigation and efficiency- enhancing projects, says the FAA. www.flightinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 19-25 OCTOBER 2004 5
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