Aviation Partners Boeing (APB) is exploring the possibility of forming new industrial partnerships in an effort to speed the development of a blended winglet retrofit package for the Boeing 747-200/300 Classics.
Company commitments including winglet work on the 737 Next Generation family means the 747 retrofit will not be available until 2005.
"We are assessing if we can launch the 747 work into production or not," says Jay Inman, APB's vice president programmes. "We are talking about teaming with other manufacturers to see if, through new partnerships, we can develop these packages in parallel instead of sequentially." The on-going 747-400 retrofit package is being kept in-house, while the predominantly -200 orientated retrofit effort is the subject of the talks which are set to lead to a decision in the second quarter of next year.
APB is also stepping up studies of Boeing 767-200/300 winglet retrofits and plans to have a proof-of-concept flight test underway as early as the second quarter of 2002.
The joint venture says the in-house design effort is aimed at smaller winglets for the 767, relative to the 4.4m (14ft) tall devices tested on the 747. The 767 winglets are expected to be2.2-3m tall.
Source: Flight International
