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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 2184.PDF
Directory: world airliners The baseline -8 and stretched -9 have a span of around 60m, and the span for the short-range -3, which is now put at around 50-52m, is still being refined. The -3's wing will also feature more promi nent winglets rather than the upswept tips of the full-span wing. Boeing is designing the 7E7 to have a distinctive appearance, but concedes that the notable shark- fin vertical tail proposed looks set to be eliminated by aerodynamicists as they refine the configuration. The nose will have conformal streamlining and the flightdeck will have a four-pane windshield, instead of the standard six-pane design. Boeing is also looking to fit enlarged cabin windows, which will be around 30% bigger than current transparencies. Part of the 7E7's operating cost savings will be achieved by a leap in the level of composites employed. As currently planned, around roughly 50% of the 7E7 will be composites by weight, with the material dominating the vertical and horizontal tails and the wingboxes for which Boeing. Production After evaluating more than 80 alternatives, Boeing decided in December 2003 that the 7E7 will be assembled alongside its other widebodies at its Everett plant in Washington. Swayed by substantial tax and other financial incentives from Washington state worth over $3 billion, Boeing says the Everett site requires no major construction and is staffed by a workforce that has shown "tremendous productiv ity improvements". Boeing has adopted a completely new produc tion method for the 7E7, with large pre-plumbed subassemblies being supplied to the assembly line from US and international partners. This will enable the final assembly process to take three days, com pared with 14 for today's 777. A fleet of modified 747-400 Large Cargo Freighter (LCF) aircraft is being prepared to ship the subassemblies to the line (see 747 LCF description). The manufacturer says that the probable maxi mum production rate will be seven aircraft per month, but this plan is flexible and not finalised. Up to 65% of the 7E7 airframe will be built by external suppliers, including the aircraft's entire wingbox, which will be manufactured in Japan. Three Japanese companies have secured 35% of the work, while a new teaming arrangement between Dallas, Texas-based Vought Aircraft Industries and Alenia Aeronautica has been awarded 26%. Boeing will keep 35% of work in- house at Australian, Canadian and US sites, with the remaining 4% still unallocated. Vought and Alenia will produce the centre and aft fuselages and horizontal stabiliser, which will be assembled and "pre-stuffed" before delivery to the Boeing final assembly site. Ordered: 52 (30 -3s and 22 -8s) Delivered: I BWB studies Boeing Phantom Works has studied a range of potential blended wing body (BWB) family variants. These include passenger aircraft in the 200- to 550- seat size, with cruise speeds of up to Mach 0.95 envisaged. Length(m) Wingspan (m) Height (m) Cabin width (m) 1 i Maximum take-off weight (kg) Powerplant 2x Normal operating speed (Mach) Max cruising altitude (ft) Accommodation (3-class) Design range Notes: "two-class. Provisional data 56 50-52 16.5 5.74 185,700 53-56,000lb 2 GE GEnx 0.85 43,000 289" 6,500km -8 56 59 16.5 5.74 217,900 x 65-67,000lb or R-R Trent 1000 0.85 43,000 217 15,700km -9 62 59 16.5 5.74 226,800 2 x 68-70,0001b 0.85 43,000 257 15,400km TV W. L. GORE & ASSOCIATES • ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS DIVISION Innovative Solutions For Air, Land, Sea & Space Gore has been providing reliable electrical component solutions to the Aerospace Market for over 30 years and continues to be at the forefront of our customer's innovations. We were there when Apollo 11 headed to the moon in 1969 and when the remote explor ers landed on Mars in 2004. In the last three decades Gore has excelled at providing cables, interconnect solutions, and materials for such demanding applications. GORE Creative Technologies Worldwide • Advanced Interconnects & Bulk Cable • Microwave Cable Assemblies • Fiber Optic Cable Assemblies • A ircraft Sealant W. L. Gore & Associates 1 800 445-GORE North America +44/1382 561511 +49/9144 6010 Europe www.goreelectronics.com/info/da4 © Copyright, 2004 W. L. Gore & Associates www.fliqhtinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 26 OCTOBER - 1 NOVEMBER 2004 67
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