Mcdonnell To Make Long-Range Tri-Jet
Production of the wide-bodied three-engined plane, intended to seat up to 375 passengers in its stretch version, would take approximately 44 months from the programme's formal launch, the company said at a news conference at the Farnborough air show.
Programme plans aim at gaining approval from the McDonnell Douglas board to make formal MD-XX offers to airlines later this year, MD-XX programme vice president Walt Orlowski said.If the orders needed for formal launch are then booked early in 1997, that would lead to deliveries before the end of 2000, he added.
Although it will resemble the manufacturer's current MD-11 in many operational respects, the all-new MD-XX will feature an advanced flightdeck with automatic system controllers doing much of the routine of flight. This will include fly-by-wire computer systems for driving flight control surfaces and engines and the plane will also feature a high-efficiency wing with a large total area.
Engines will be in the 65,000 pounds thrust range and the company said modified or derivative engines based on existing propulsion systems from all three major international engine makers can be available within three years of go-ahead.
Currently, MD is working with General Electric Corp, United Technologies' Pratt & Whitney and Britain's Rolls- Royce Plc to define optimum engine configurations. Two versions of the plane are currently envisaged, the firm told reporters. Alongside the stretch model, a long-range plane carrying 309 passengers in three-class configuration will also be offered.It is designed to fly 20 per cent further than the MD-11 with a full load of passengers and baggage.The MD-11 currently has a typical range of 12,950 km with 298 passengers.
Explaining the reasoning behind offering two variants, Orlowski said to meet future traffic growth, the carriers are demanding aircraft with more passenger capacity and also want more range capability than current jetliners. In essence, the MD-XX is a slightly-undersized competitor to the long-range market leaderBoeing Corp's 747.
It is smaller, however, than super jumbo ranges now being developed by Boeing and its European arch-rival Airbus Industrie.
McDonnell said that typical cargo capacities for the long range MD-XX would be the same as the larger 747-400, while the stretch version would have 50 per cent more cargo space.
In pure freighter mode, it would be able to carry up to 44 standard industry pallets, compared with 36 on the MD-11.
This week the US defence giant has denied widespread market speculation that it is about to pull out of the civil aircraft market entirely, as Lockheed did some years ago.
Suspicions were heightened earlier this year when the company was in abortive talks with Boeing about merging.
However, when he announced civil orders worth $700 million at the start of the show this week, company president Harry Stonecipher told reporters, It's our intention to be in this business for the long haul.