Bombardier today announced that its Board of Directors has granted approval for the launch of the CSeries family of aircraft, a new game-changing five abreast commercial airliner family, with the economics, performance, environmental and passenger-oriented improvements demanded by airline customers for the next quarter century. Entry into service is scheduled for 2013.

Launch customer, Lufthansa, a leading German airline, has signed a letter of interest (LOI) for up to 60 aircraft, including 30 options. The approximate list price of each aircraft is $46.7 million US. Additionally, discussions with a number of established airlines worldwide are progressing well.

Bombardier made the announcement today at the Farnborough International Airshow during a press conference at its CSeries pavilion hosted by Pierre Beaudoin, President and Chief Executive Officer, Bombardier Inc.; Guy C. Hachey, President and Chief Operating Officer, Bombardier Aerospace and Gary R. Scott, President, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft. Nico Buchholz, Senior Vice President, Corporate Fleet, Lufthansa attended the event as well as: David Moloney, Assistant Deputy Minister, Industry Canada; Raymond Bachand, Minister of Economic Development, Innovation and Export, Government of Québec; Right Honourable Shaun Woodward MP, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland; Arlene Foster MLA, Northern Ireland Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment; and Steve Finger, President, Pratt & Whitney. Also in attendance were representatives from the Shenyang Municipal Government, AVIC I/SACC, Rockwell Collins, Parker Hannifin Corporation, and Liebherr Aerospace Toulouse SAS.

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Boeing could reposition its 747-8 Intercontinental to bring the four-engined long-range widebody’s passenger capacity to within 10% of the Airbus A380’s standard three-class 555-seat capacity.

Initial studies of the stretched Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental appear to show the aircraft could seat almost 500 passengers and still make its provisional 14,800km (8,000nm) minimum range target, says the manufacturer.

The findings, which are yet to be ratified during ongoing trade studies, could satisfy the additional payload needs of several potential customers and for the first time put the 747-8 in a similar capacity bracket to the A380.

Boeing 747 sales, marketing and in-service support vice-president Randy Tinseth says rough calculations indicate that with a 5.6m (18.3ft) stretch, as opposed to the initially planned 3.6m fuselage extension, the aircraft could accommodate "around 10 extra business class or 30-34 additional economy seats and still get 8,000nm". Together with the provision for the upper lobe galley, which frees up an extra 12 seats on the main deck, this would potentially raise maximum seating capacity under Boeing tri-class rules to around 496, compared with the originally envisaged 450.

More details from Flight International…

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Boeing is studying a 777-style electronic tailstrike protection system for the 747-8, which would enable steeper touchdown and take-off angles and help reduce noise during critical approach and departure phases. The electronic tailskid trade study forms a key element of Boeing’s attempts to close the gap on QC1 noise limits at London, and the outcome is largely dependent on windtunnel tests being performed at Qinetiq’s facility at Farnborough in the UK.

The tests are to assess low-speed aerodynamic characteristics to help finalise aircraft lines, design loads and control laws. Tailstrike protection system technology, developed for the 777, is embedded in the flight-control computer. It uses aircraft performance data and sensor input to fix the location of the aft fuselage relative to the runway, as well as the closure rate at which the fuselage approaches the runway during take-off and landing.

If the system senses an impending tailstrike, it automatically commands the elevators to avoid it. The idea would be to approach the runway with a higher fuselage attitude, slowing the approach without the use of maximum flap and requiring a steeper flare angle. The reduction in flap deployment, already cut to a simpler double/single slotted configuration on the -8 versus a triple-slotted design on the -400, would be one way of further reducing noise. The higher take-off angle similarly reduces noise by reducing the “footprint” around the departure path, adds Boeing.

Roy Eggink, 747-8 product development chief engineer, says: “It could be helpful for both take-off and landing noise performance.” The overall approach would remain unchanged at the standard 3° glideslope angle, but “are you going to do that with flap or by deflecting the entire aircraft?” asks Eggink. Although the 747-8 will have fly-by-wire controlled spoilers and drooped ailerons, the current plan calls for the elevator to be conventionally controlled.

Continued….

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As reported by Airbus, the new A350XWB model will be 12.5 centimeters wider than the previous draft and carry 314 passengers. It will also make extensive use of carbon-fibre composites and fuel-efficient engines. The new A350XWB _ for "extra-wide body" _ will take on both the Dreamliner and the Boeing’s 777.

Airbus intends to begin development in October, and the plane is expected to enter service by mid 2012. No word yet on the rumored A370.

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Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner is overweight and experiencing delays with some suppliers, the company said Sunday, while stressing that the long-range, fuel-efficient jet remains on budget and on schedule.

Rival Airbus, however, announced this weekend that the widely expected redesign of its planned A350 – billed as a competitor to the 787 – will nearly double the development cost of the plane.

Boeing Commercial Airplanes Chief Executive Alan Mulally, speaking in London on the eve of the Farnborough Air Show, declined to say where 787 supply problems were occurring or by how much the plane was exceeding its target weight.

“We’re a little over where we want to be at this time on weight, but ahead of where we were on previous programs, so we’re really focused on weight-efficient structure right now,” he said.

More here….

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FARNBOROUGH, England, July 17, 2006 — Boeing  and its partners have completed construction and will soon begin structural testing of a full-scale 787 Dreamliner composite wing box as part of the certification process of the all-new jetliner.

The test piece measures approximately 17 feet front spar to rear spar and 50 feet from airplane centerline to the tip of the composite structure. It is 4 feet deep at the thickest section. It will weigh 55,000 pounds, including a great deal of test-only hardware and instrumentation. It was designed and built by a joint team of Boeing, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Fuji Heavy Industries.

While it is full-scale, the piece represents a portion of the wing section, beginning at about the center of the airplane and stopping at approximately two-thirds of the span of the wing.

“In addition to determining the strength of the structure, the tests we are running will help us to verify the analytical methods we have used to calculate the loads that the structure will have to carry,” said Mike Bair, vice president and general manager of the 787 program for Boeing. “This is how we work through ensuring that the structure performs exactly as we predict during the design effort.

“We start by testing small coupons and elements to characterize the material system; we proceed to testing small and medium size articles of configured structure; and then proceed to full-scale testing.”

Boeing will conduct structural tests on two full-scale 787 airframes as part of its validation and certification process. Those test programs, like the testing being run on the half-span wing box, will demonstrate the performance of the structure through multiple lifetimes of normal operational loads and test the structure to the point of breaking.

“We analyze the wing for how much load the structure can bear and when and where it will break,” Bair said. “The failure loads are equivalent to more than 150 percent of the maximum load we ever expect these wings to see in service, even in the event of an extreme emergency.”

In addition to testing the strength of the wing, Boeing will use the test structure to validate the repair methods that have been developed for the materials being used on the 787.

The upper and lower surface panels and the spars of the wing are made entirely of the same composite material being used on the fuselage. The wing ribs are monolithic aluminum structures, each machined from a single piece of aluminum plate. “Because the design is all-new, we feel it is important to get early test results,” said Bair. “This test article will help us to refine our final designs and ensure we minimize the chance for surprises during the full-scale testing.”

Structure representing the engine nacelle fittings and the main landing gear fittings, as well as other attachments, have also been added to the structure to allow testing of the joints of these structural elements.

It took approximately 18 months to build the test fixture and all of the associated structure. Testing begins in August.

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Airbus will expand its offering of two new mid-sized planes to three in order to catch up with surging rival Boeing Co., industry sources said on Friday.

Worried that its pair of proposed A350 models aimed at competing with the Boeing 787 due in 2008 will do little to slow sales of Boeing’s larger 777, France-based Airbus will add a third, larger model.

“They are definitely looking at doing three,” one industry source said, adding that the new planes were likely to be named the A350-800, A350-900 and A350-1,000. There was a chance Airbus could go with the name A370, he added.

A second source confirmed the story, saying: “It is designed to take on both the 787 and triple-7.”

A spokesman for Airbus declined to comment on specifics, but said Airbus’ chief executive would provide an update at the year’s biggest air show next week: “Christian Streiff will be responding to feedback from customers received over recent months on Monday.”

The additional model could benefit suppliers such as steelmaker Alcoa Inc. and Goodrich Corp., a maker of nacelles and thrust reversers.

It also means Airbus will look to engine makers GE Aviation and Rolls-Royce for more than the one engine each has so far committed to build as the three models will range from 250 to 400 seats and fly different distances.

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EXECUTIVES of Europe’s aircraft manufacturer Airbus were engaged this weekend in another crisis. They had hoped to unveil the design of their new A370 aircraft this week on the eve of the Farnborough Air Show. The “launch” of the new plane, which is even more critical to the company’s future than its troubled A380 super-jumbo, had been pencilled in for 14 July until British partner BAE Systems announced it was triggering a full audit of the Toulouse-based European planemaker.

On Friday, the launch of the mid-sized jet was suddenly suspended to allow new chairman Christian Streiff to “review” the troubled project, so Airbus claimed.

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European aircraft maker Airbus, which faces delays to production of the A380 super-jumbo, may also be forced to delay the launch of its long-haul A350 jet, London’s Times newspaper said Friday.

The new setback was because Christian Streiff, expected to be confirmed as the new Airbus chief executive, needed time to approve the venture, the
newspaper said citing sources close to EADS, which owns 80 percent of Airbus.

The group has been busy redesigning its A350 model, a new mid-sized airliner that has been poorly received by potential clients.

According to The Times, sources close to the European Aeronautics Defence and Space Company have warned that Streiff may not make a decision by the
company’s deadline of the Farnborough Air Show in England which runs from July 17-23.

Streiff, the former deputy chief executive of French construction materials giant Saint-Gobain, was nominated as Airbus boss last week after his predecessor Gustav Humbert was ousted because of delays to the flagship A380.

More here…

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