Guy Norris/SEATTLE
BOEING IS to seek board authority to offer the "Major Derivative" (MD) 747-500/600 in July, but may be forced to extend the development timescale by more than a year to incorporate more advanced technology, at the insistence of its airline advisory group.
Boeing originally planned to request authority to offer (ATO) at a board meeting scheduled to be held in China in the last week in June. Continuing debate over configuration definition is expected to delay the formal request for ATO by a further week or more. The China meeting is now likely to be used to give the board a detailed briefing on the 747MD effort, and a special board meeting could be convened early in July in the USA, at which approval will be sought.
If Boeing receives the go-ahead and sufficient orders are taken, then both re-winged versions of the updated 747 would be launched simultaneously, possibly at the Farnborough air show in September. Boeing president and chief executive officer Phil Condit confirms that debate still surrounds configuration definition, but suggests that preparations are being finalised for programme launch before the end of the third quarter of 1996.
"There's been a lot to give and take on the details, and I expect that will continue. But we have been working towards a point where it makes sense to proceed. We have arrived at that point," he says.
Condit says that a launch decision will depend on which airlines order the aircraft, rather than on how many orders are received. "If that 'who' is a respected airline like Singapore Airlines or British Airways, then you've got it," he adds.
Much of the debate over final configuration centres on the introduction of new-technology systems such as fly-by-wire flight controls into the aircraft. Boeing has warned members of its 15-strong airline advisory group that the full introduction of every system on the group's "wish-list" could extend the development timescale by up to two years. "Boeing was really surprised when most of us told them we'd be willing to wait another year or two than have a 'new' airliner with 15-year old technology in it at entry-into-service," says one advisory board member.
"Most want to assess how successful many of these technologies have been on the 777. They include things like fly-by-wire, aircraft information-management systems, electrical-load management and automated check lists," the board member adds.
Boeing believes that a launch in the third quarter of 1996 would enable it to commence deliveries by December 2000, without the delay.
Both versions will be centred around a new 73m-span wing based heavily on the advanced design of the 777. The wing has a high degree of inverted camber over the root and is highly aft loaded and thinly tapered with no winglets.
The wingtip will rise between 7.6m and 9m above the ground depending on the amount of fuel aboard, while the fin will rise to a height of over 21m.
Aircraft gross weight for both versions will be almost the same at around 545,000kg. The -600 will carry up to 515 passengers in a typical three-class arrangement over ranges of up to 13,700km (7,400nm).
The smaller -500 will carry around 490 passengers over ranges of up to 15,725km.
Source: Flight International
