Breakthrough

orders

breathe life

into sagging

market

commonality with the other CFM56-5sused in the rest of the A320 family.

ANTONOVAn-74TK-300–After completing a 219-mission flight-test program essentially onschedule, Antonov and the Kharkov StateAviation Production Company (KhGAPP)won AP-25 certification for the An-74TK-

300 last October. First flown in April 2001,the An-74TK-300 disposes of the An-74family’s most distinguishing design fea-ture–namely, engine pylons mounted on topof the wings. For the new model, engineersopted instead for a more traditional under-wing engine design, resulting in less drag,higher lift-to-weight ratio, reduced fuelburn but diminished field performance.

Designers of the original An-74s choseto place the engines on top of the wings tomeet military requirements for STOL per-formance and isolation from FOD. Theconfiguration harnesses the Coanda effectfor better lift and protects the engines fromingesting debris during takeoff and land-ing. Potential airline customers have ex-pressed a clear preference for less fuelburn and higher cruisespeed, however, leading tothe development of theAn-74TK-300.

The new model boastsan increase in top cruisespeed from 378 to 405knots and a 20-percentdrop in fuel burn, to be-tween 2,685 and 3,085pph, depending on condi-tions. However, at its mtowof 82,673 pounds, the An-74TK-300 needs an extra 655 feet ofrunway for takeoff at sea level and ISAconditions.

Antonov originally applied for comple-mentary type approval under the NLGS-3certificate issued to the original An-74 bythe Soviet Union in 1991. However, the AirRegister of International Aviation Commit-tee persuaded the company to withdraw itsapplication and file again under AP-25,which, unlike NLGS-3, parallels FAR Part25 standards and allows for a worldwidecustomer base.

The Ukrainian design bureau’s mostcoveted customer–Aeroflot–last summersigned a memorandum of understanding toevaluate the variant as one of the possiblereplacements for its aging Tu-134s. If theAn-74TK-300 proves suitable and Antonovagrees to build half the airplanes in Russia,Aeroflot would lease 30 airplanes throughIlyushin Finance and the UkrTransLizingleasing companies. Antonov claims that italso holds commitments for several VIPAn-74TK-300s from the Ukrainian cabinetministry and other state agencies, as well asorders for freighter versions from Chinese,Ukrainian and Russian cargo carriers.

While Antonov considers the passengerversion of the An-74TK-300 something ofa bridge to its new An-148, its long-termplans for the model appear to center on

cargo variants. The first extended-fuselageAn-74TK-300, now under assembly at theKhGAAP factory in Kharkov, will enterduty as a freighter for a Ukrainian cargohauler. Antonov still has not decidedwhether it will offer a stretched version ofthe airplane in passenger configuration.

The An-74TK-300 uses 14,300-pound-thrust ZMKB Progress D36-4A turbofans,

modified to fit into theunder-wing nacelles, whoseadditional noise-reductionpanels render the airplaneICAO Stage 4 compliant.Unlike the D36s found onearlier An-74s, the -4Auses thrust reversers. TheTK-300 also features newavionics, such as a Ukrain-ian-made SM3301 dualGPS receiver, a 150-para-meter BUR-92 flight-data

recorder, an Orlan VHF radio with 8.33-kHz channel spacing, an Arlekin long-rangeHF radio and a G-002M FMS.

An-148–The first Antonov airplane ex-pected to make use of computer-aided de-sign and manufacturing technology, theAn-148 began taking shape last October,when the Ukrainian design bureau beganbuilding the type’s first fuselage. Less thansix months later the company removed thecompleted section from its assembly jig intime to proceed with scheduled productionof the first airframe and first flight by theend of this year. The first prototype, tofeature a completely new high-wing con-figuration and ZMKB Progress D436-148turbofans from Motor Sich, could gain CIS

certification by the end of next year andenter service with its launch customer,Russian cargo carrier Volga-Dnepr, inearly 2005.

Maligned in Russia initially as a public-ity stunt, the An-148 assumed instant credi-bility when Antonov began cutting metal forthe project in March last year. Antonov, en-gine builder Motor Sich and Russian airframemanufacturer Ulan-Ude have agreed to sharethe financial risk in a joint-venture agree-ment signed in 2001. Under the agreement,production assembly will take place in Rus-sia at the Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant (UUAZO)and in Ukraine by the Kharkov State Avia-tion Production Company (KhGAPP), whichalso participates in design work and sup-plies the Antonov experimental factory inKiev with central fuselage sections, wingpanels, engine nacelles and pylons.

Meanwhile, Kiev-based Aviant willbuild empennages, hatches and doors, whilerocket builder YuzhMash supplies landinggear and noise-absorbing panels for enginenacelles based on materials developed forlaunch vehicles. Most recently, Russia’sVoronezh Aircraft Production Association(VASO) has expressed a desire to join theAn-148 program, promoting itself as asuperior alternative to the Ulan-Ude plantbecause of its proximity to Kharkov.

In the process of building the first

An-148 assembly line,Kharkov has so far com-pleted the wing box andouter panels for the firstprototype. Ulan-Ude con-tinues work on the secondassembly line, while theAntonov plant in Kievnears completion of theprogram’s third fuselage,intended for structural test-ing. It plans to roll out thefirst example this Decem-ber and fly it in March. Under the currentschedule, the next two prototypes will fol-low at four-month intervals.

The partners view the An-148 as a naturalsuccessor to the less capable and efficientAn-74TK-300, which, although a new offer-ing, carries many of the less modern featuresof earlier An-74 variants. In fact, Antonov’sMOU with Aeroflot for 30 TK-300s callsfor an eventual replacement with An-148s.

Deputy chief designer Victor Kazurovsaid the bureau launched the program afterstudies revealed that neither a turbofan ver-sion of the An-140 turboprop nor the An-74TK-300 could compete internationallywith new concepts such as the Sukhoi-ledRRJ. Although many airlines asked for a100-seater, he said, Antonov chose an 80-seat design to avoid direct competition withthe Tupolev Tu-334, now undergoing certi-fication trials. However, a recent decision toswitch to more powerful but heavier en-gines might prompt Antonov to reconsider.The company originally planned to useZMKB Progress D36-5 engines for the An-148, but the engine company’s desire toexpand its customer base for its new D436-148s led to a decision to switch. TheFADEC-equipped D436-148 benefits fromnew technologies developed for the D436Tused on the Tupolev Tu-334 and Beriev Be-200. The bureau claims the design’s next-generation noise-absorbing panels, chevronnozzle and enlarged “screening effect” airintake will allow it to meet Stage 4 stan-dards by a “comfortable margin.”

An-148 designers opted for a glass cock-pit featuring five 6- by 8-inch LCDs builtby Russia’s Aviapribor. The digitally con-trolled onboard systems will feature fly-by-wire controls using technology developed forthe An-70 cargo transport. In the interest ofcost savings, the bureau confined the use ofWestern components to some elements of theairplane’s Ukrainian and Russian avionicsmodules, including those for satellite-basednavigation and Cat IIIa landing capability.

Under current plans, the basic An-148-100 would hold 80 passengers in five-abreast configuration with 30-inch pitch or70 at 34 inches. For Siberian operators,Antonov plans to build a derivative with ahigher max takeoff weight and more fuelcapacity in the center tank, extending rangewith 75 passengers from 1,187 nm to 1,943nm. It also plans to offer a special 2,752-nm-range “E” variant, which would serveas a platform for the E1, capable of carry-ing between 40 and 44 passengers 3,777 nmfor nonstop Moscow-Vladivostok service.

Antonov has targeted a list price of $17million and direct operating costs rangingbetween 25- and 30 percent lower than thosepegged for the Embraer 170.

AVIC IARJ21–Pent-up demand for low-cost re-gional jets in the People’s Republic has con-vinced China Aviation Industry Corporation(AVIC) to launch the development of a 70-to 90-seat RJ known as the ARJ21. The con-cept, first unveiled at the 2001 Beijing Air

Show, represents China’s most comprehen-sive effort to build an international supplierbase for an indigenous aircraft.

Expected to cost some $900 million todevelop, the airplane’s ultimate existence,as always, hinges on the Chinese govern-ment’s resolve in supporting the project.But after failing to launch efforts to developnew regional jets with Airbus and DaimlerBenz, the Chinese have convinced a num-ber of Western suppliers of the seriousnessof this attempt, lending perhaps more cred-ibility to the project than first expected.

Intended to withstand the hot-and-highconditions common in western China, theARJ21 would feature rear-mounted GECF34-10A turbofans, five-abreast seating,a standard range of 1,200 nm, a cruisespeed of Mach 0.8, Western avionics and asuper-critical wing designed by Ukraine’sAntonov. Rated to produce 18,500 poundsof thrust, the GE engine won a propulsioncompetition that included the Rolls-RoyceDeutschland BR710, the Pratt & WhitneyPW800 and Snecma’s proposed SM146.

Although the -10 represents a consider-able capability increase over other CF34models, it incorporates many parts scaledfrom the CFM56-7 and CF34-8 and thesame basic design philosophy of the CF34-3 series and -8 series engines, making it arelatively low-risk choice, according to GE.

A partial mockup of the ARJ21 appearedat June’s Paris Air Show, where Chineseofficials announced that Hamilton Sund-strand won a competition to supply the air-plane’s electrical power system and to act asa system integration partner with AVIC I.Less than two months earlier, in late April,fellow U.S. aerospace contractor RockwellCollins signed a deal to provide the entireARJ21 avionics and cockpit integrationpackages. The ARJ21 cockpit would includefive Collins 10- by 8-inch LCDs, Pro Line21 CNS radio sensors, an FMS-4200 flightmanagement system, EICAS and an AHS-3000 attitude heading reference system.

AVIC I plans to build major airframecomponents at its subsidiaries’ factories inXian, Shenyang and Chengdu, while theShanghai Airplane Manufacturing Plantassumes responsibility for preliminary de-sign, assembly and administration.

Expected to add some 1,900 airplanes toits fleets over the next 20 years, China rep-resents a potential market worth $165 bil-lion, according to program advisor Boeing,which estimates that 77 percent of thedemand would involve single-aisle air-planes such as the ARJ21, now expected tofly for the first time in 2005 and enter ser-vice in early 2007.

BOMBARDIERCRJ900–After 895 hours flown by twoprototypes over the span of 13 months,Bombardier’s newest and largest regionalairliner earned its type certificate fromTransport Canada on September 12 of lastyear. A full two years later, Bombardier’sorder books show a grand sales total of 25

AIRBUS A318–Certified by Europe’s JAA and theU.S. FAA in late spring, the newest andsmallest member of Airbus’ A320 familyarrived at the Denver base of launch cus-tomer Frontier Airlines on July 29. Pow-ered by a pair of CFM56-5B8 turbofans,the single-class, 114-seat A318 joined thelow-fare carrier’s fleet of 19 A319s, mark-ing the start of another phase in its ongo-ing transition to an all-Airbus fleet.Appearing at its first public display atJune’s Paris Air Show, Frontier’s first A318continued to behave “as expected” in rev-enue service, following the failure of theprogram’s first prototype–originally pow-ered by the Pratt & Whitney PW6000–to

meet promised fuel-burn performance. That airplane flew its maiden voyage on

January 15 last year, but instead of drawingthe usual fanfare reserved for such festiveoccasions the milestone flight served tohighlight mistakes made in the design of the22,000-pound-thrust Pratt engines. The pro-totype jetliner burned some 6 percent morefuel than projected, a discovery that forcedAirbus to completely revamp its certifica-tion schedule to accommodate the approvalfirst of a version powered by CFM56-5s.After completing 100 hours of testing inthe first prototype with the PW6000s, Air-bus fitted the airplane with the CFMs,allowing it to resume flight testing on Au-gust 29 of last year–in time to meet its new

certification and first-delivery targets.A second prototype, also powered by

PW6000s, flew for the first time in June lastyear and also took part in CFM testingbefore withdrawing from the program inFebruary for customer refurbishment.Meanwhile, in late March, original launchcustomer Air France said it would defersome of its firm orders for 15 A318s by ayear. However, it did not indicate whetherthe decision would delay first delivery, ten-tatively scheduled for October. Aside fromAir France and Frontier, which holds firmorders for five airplanes, GECAS holds afirm order for 30 of the CFM-powered jetsand expects to take first deliveries next year.

Other customers for the PW6000-pow-ered A318, such as British Airways andEgyptair, have canceled their orders,while launch customer International LeaseFinance and America West Airlines agreedto defer first deliveries until at least 2005.Yet another high-profile customer, AMR,dropped an order for 50 A318s placed byTWA before its merger with American Air-lines. Airbus says it now holds firm ordersfor 84 A318s.

The source of the fuel-efficiency prob-lem in the Pratt & Whitney-powered A318stemmed from an ambition to lighten andsimplify the engine by minimizing the num-ber of stages in the high-pressure compres-

sor. But the PW6000’s five-stage designplaced too much strain on each stage, cre-ating a condition in which fuel burn reacheda point of diminishing returns. As a result,Pratt & Whitney adopted a six-stage com-pressor design from German engine builderMTU. The change has resulted in a three-year delay in the engine’s certification andservice entry, from late 2002 to 2005.

Although Pratt & Whitney designed itsengine for relatively high-cycle, short-hauloperations, the 131,000-pound-mtow, 2,800-nm-range A318 appears better suited tolong-haul duty than its primary competitor,the Boeing 717-200, whose optimum mis-sion lies between 350 nm and 500 nm.Billed at their inception as the companies’first regional jets, both the A318 and 717-200 have drawn little interest from theregional airline sector, however. Faced withscope-clause barriers in the U.S. and airportfee constraints in Europe, the A318 evenmore so than the 717 displays mainlineweight and performance, rendering its com-monality with the rest of the A320 line asperhaps its best selling point.

Last year the FAA and the French civilaviation directorate jointly certified twonew thrust ratings for the CFM-poweredA318s. The CFM56-5B8, rated at 21,600pounds of thrust, and the CFM56-5B9,rated at 23,300 pounds, feature full parts

R16 Aviation International News • www.ainonline.com September 17-19, 2003 September 17-19, 2003 Aviation International News • www.ainonline.com R17

As the air transport industry slowly recovers from asagging global economy and persistent geopolitical un-rest, regional airlines have recast themselves as agents for change in a business often criticized for its inflexibilityand lack of fiscal discipline. But despite their robusttraffic gains, regional airlines can hardly boast of windfallprofits, as the rise of low-fare carriers and a newfoundemphasis on cost control by mainline partners continueto suppress yields. Consequently, from the end of 2000through early this year regional aircraft order booksshowed little more than cancellations and deliverydeferrals as customers struggled to negotiate reasonablefinancing terms.

Meanwhile, new regional aircraft designs conceivedduring the 1990s market stood ready to vie for airlineacceptance. Unfortunately for those who staked theirfutures on costly new aircraft programs, the timing couldn’t have been worse, as apprehension in both theconsumer and financial markets spelled the demise ofsuch programs as the BAE Systems RJX and the bank-ruptcy of Germany’s Fairchild Dornier.

While defunct startup ventures such as Earl Robinson’sAlliance Aircraft never really stood a chance in this bar-ren lending environment, even the best established com-panies enacted capacity reductions and employee layoffs.Although much of Bombardier’s predicament arose froma slump in the business aircraft market, for the first timein recent memory a prolonged lull in demand for regionalairliners forced the Canadian aerospace giant–as well asits chief rival, Brazil’s Embraer–to slash production rates.

This year, however, a breakthrough came when US Air-ways placed landmark orders for 170 regional jets, splitequally between Embraer and Bombardier. Even more

encouraging, the deal called for deliveries of new designsfrom both manufacturers–Embraer for the 70-seat 170and Bombardier for a 75-seat version of the CRJ900known as the CRJ705. But after the pilots of US Airwaysinvoked their scope clause to challenge the existence ofthe 25 CRJ705s at the wholly owned regional unit, theairline opted instead to assign an equal number of 70-seat CRJ700s to independent affiliate Mesa Air Group.The move again left Bombardier without a new customerfor the CRJ900 ever since Mesa, coincidentally, placedthe program’s first airline order in March 2001 for itsAmerica West Express network.

Just weeks after US Airways placed its orders on May13, another of Embraer’s new products–the 98-seat Em-braer 190–drew the Brazilian manufacturer’s first sale inthe burgeoning low-fare market. The order for 100 air-planes from New York-based JetBlue carried special signifi-cance not only because it validated Embraer’s long-heldbelief that its new line of jets would appeal to low-fare car-riers, but because it proved a so-called regional jet manu-facturer could effectively compete with Airbus and Boeing.

Of course, major airlines have long played an active if not dominant role in negotiating RJ acquisitions fortheir regional partners, so the likes of Embraer and Bombardier selling jets directly to US Airways, for exam-ple, came as no surprise. But the extent to which theirproducts eventually fly in mainline networks remains amatter for speculation. Differing opinions about the direction of the airline industry have led to variedapproaches to new products, ranging from completelynew, “clean sheet” designs to less costly derivatives. The following report encapsulates those, as well as therest of the industry’s new offerings.

by Gregory Polek

Airbus A318

AntonovAn-74TK-300

AntonovAn-148

AVIC IARJ21

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VID

MCIN

TO

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units from a single customer, leaving manywondering whether the “sweet spot” towhich executives referred when theylaunched the program in 2000 had ripenedprematurely.

Introduced on the strength of a launchorder for 10 airplanes from leasing giantGECAS, the CRJ900 drew its first airlinecustomer in March 2001, when Phoenix-based Mesa Air Group signed a letter ofintent that called for a firm order for 20 ofthe 86-seat jets and an option for another20. Once its own prospects for placing theairplanes disintegrated, however, GECAScanceled its order, leaving Mesa as the 86-seat jet’s only customer. Mesa subsequentlyconverted firm orders for five CRJ700s to afollow-on order for five CRJ900s, bringingthe program total to 25.

Mesa placed the first aircraft–dressed inAmerica West Express livery and configuredin a two-class, 80-seat cabin layout–into ser-vice on a route between Los Angeles andPhoenix in late April. After America West’spilots rejected a proposed labor deal thatwould have placed new numerical limits onsuch large-capacity RJs, the Phoenix-basedairline remains one of last major carriers inthe U.S. whose regional affiliates enjoyunfettered access to regional jets certified tocarry more than 70 passengers. Despitemanufacturers’ early projections that suchscope restrictions would eventually dissolve,they remain perhaps the biggest obstacles toserious market penetration of airplanes inthe CRJ900’s capacity class.

Such scope-clause constraints again re-vealed their disruptive potential as recentlyas July, when union pressure compelled USAirways to convert a firm order for 25Bombardier CRJ705s to positions for 70-seat CRJ700s and assign the airplanes toMesa. Originally scheduled for first deliv-ery to wholly owned US Airways sub-sidiary PSA Airlines early next year, theCRJ705–a planned 75-seat, 82,500-pound-mtow version of the CRJ900–would weighmore than the 75,000-pound-mtow, 70-seatlimits imposed on US Airways regional af-filiates by the mainline pilots’ union scopeclause. Although it agreed to an exemptionfor the Embraer 170 and 175, ALPA’s USAirways division refused to grant furtherconcessions for the Bombardier jet.

Meanwhile, in Europe, where scopeclauses present virtually none of the marketconstraints they do in the U.S., the CRJ900has faced an even tougher sell, drawing justa single firm order from France’s Brit Airfor four airplanes, only to see it canceled afew months later.

Although its commonality attributes ap-peal most to regional airlines already flyingCRJs, the 86-seat jet might also fill a role atthe lowest end of the single-aisle mainlinerange, surmised Bombardier. The companyhas yet to realize that ambition, however, asrival Embraer prepares to fill its first orderfrom the emerging low-fare niche with the

larger, 98-seat Embraer 190.The CRJ900 reached the market some

two years before the scheduled first deliveryof the 78-seat Embraer 175, its closest com-petitor in terms of seating capacity and

weight. Embraer promotesthe 175’s more spaciouscabin and baggage capacityas vital for the longerroutes it believes airplanesin that seat class will serve.Nevertheless, a tentativelaunch order from India’sJet Airways fizzled earlierthis year with the airline’sability to finance the air-

planes, leaving Embraer with only a tenta-tive commitment from US Airways toconvert some positions for 70-seat 170s to175s.

In reaction to “competitive pressures,”Bombardier last year assigned more rangeto the CRJ900 with a so-called paperworkmod that increased its maximum reach to1,914 nm. Dubbed the CRJ900LR duringlast year’s Farnborough Air Show, the newvariant shows a maximum takeoff weight of84,500 pounds–4,000 pounds more than thestandard CRJ900 and 2,000 pounds higherthan the mid-range CRJ900ER. Bombardierv-p Barry McKinnon explained that thecompany arrived at the extra range by ap-portioning the higher takeoff weights, thusexpanding the airplane’s payload-range en-velope without modifying the airframe.

EMBRAER170/175/190/195–Formally introduced to theworld during the 1999 Paris Air Show, thefirst iteration of Embraer’s latest regional jetfamily–the 70-seat 170–now appears likelyto gain JAA and FAA certification in No-vember, some 21 months after it first took tothe air on Feb. 19, 2002. Originally sched-uled for certification by the end of last year,the six Embraer 170 prototypes have en-countered more than their share of technicalchallenges, perhaps the most significant

involving the airplane’s Honeywell Epicavionics suite. Problems with the integrationof the system’s software has delayed first de-liveries to launch customer Alitalia from Julyto November, leaving Embraer in the unen-viable position of playing catch-up while itchases development of the three other vari-ants in the program. Right around the time itannounced the 170’s latest delay, duringJune’s Paris Air Show, it flew the program’ssecond iteration–the 76-seat Embraer 175–for the first time. The second 175 prototypeflew its maiden mission on August 7. Em-braer expects the stretch variant to gain certi-fication during next year’s third quarter.

Alitalia has opted to maintain its origi-nally planned delivery rate of one permonth, meaning it will take two airplanesthis year then four through next April. Alongwith the six Embraer 170 prototypes and thetwo flying 175s, the company had also builta production 170 for original launch cus-

tomer Swiss, but because that airline de-ferred first delivery until well into next year,Embraer plans to reconfigure it for anothercustomer. By August it had also finishedboth production airplanes destined this yearfor Alitalia, bringing the total number ofcompleted airplanes in the program to 11.

A risk-sharing partner in the Embraer170, Honeywell continues work on theintegration of the Epic systems’ CAT II ap-proach, autothrottle and wind-shear detec-tion software with the help of the firstEmbraer 175 prototype, flown to Phoenix inlate July specifically for cockpit trou-bleshooting. By press time Honeywell hadsent 11 of the 12 loads of Epic software toEmbraer. It planned to send the final loadby the end of this month.

First acknowledged by Embraer CEOMauricio Botelho during June’s Paris AirShow, the certification delay marked at leastthe third such setback for the Embraer 170.In Paris, Embraer said it had hoped to em-ploy a so-called “two phase” approach, underwhich it would certify the airplane in Julywithout Cat II landing capability, autothrot-tle and wind shear detection, then add the ex-tras for a subsequent approval in November.However, the company later acknowledgedthat Alitalia never agreed to such a plan.

Despite the program’s early technicalproblems, the Embraer 170/190 family hasbroken new ground in terms of sales, mostnotably in the low-fare sector, where NewYork-based JetBlue placed an order for 100Embraer 190s in early June. Of course, theorder placed by US Airways in May for 85Embraer 170s, even if not particularly lucra-tive, did much to raise the program’s visibil-ity and stature in the U.S. Most recently,Embraer received a formal request for pro-posal (RFP) from the Star Alliance to fill a re-quirement for at least 100 jets in the 70- to100-seat range. Although on the surface Em-braer appears the only choice for a family ofjets spanning that entire capacity range, po-litical considerations could carry as muchweight as any in the final decision, particu-

larly in a deal that could in-volve four airlines withvastly different agendas.Led by Lufthansa, the groupof airlines involved also in-cludes SAS, Air Canadaand Austrian Airlines.

When Swiss deferred itsfirst deliveries to Augustnext year, it also cut its firmorder totals for the Embraer170/195 to 15 of eachmodel from 30, and re-duced its option total from100 to 20. Under the new

schedule, deliveries of the 108-seat 195swill start in 2006. Although certainly un-welcome news for Embraer, the delay willgive it time to complete certification of the170 for operation into London City Airport,a process that has taken longer than origi-nally anticipated. When it signed the ordercontract with the airline then known asCrossair, Embraer guaranteed it could cer-tify the 170 for the 5.5-deg approach angleinto LCY from Geneva. Now targeted forcompletion by next summer, the LCY certi-fication process prompted Embraer to fit the170 with a set of ventral brakes, perma-nently locked for initial certification but ac-tivated for the steep approach trials into thenoise-sensitive airport.

During the program’s detailed designphase Embraer engineers also addedwinglets to the 170’s design, a modificationexpected to yield a range increase of 3- to5 percent and a cruise speed improvement

below 10,000 feet to 300 knots. Otherchanges included an enlarged rear passen-ger door, a reinforcement to the cargo baythat allows an additional 74 pounds of pay-load per passenger and an extension of the170’s designed lifespan from 60,000 to80,000 cycles. Although the changes re-sulted in a basic operating weight increaseof 3,306 pounds, Embraer claims the im-provements more than compensate for theextra weight.

Although it originally had planned athree-member family, Embraer decided tointroduce the 175 in October 2001, after anumber of customers expressed a desire forthe extra two rows of seats, most notably170 launch customer Swiss. However, whatstood as perhaps the most compelling argu-ment for the stretch variant–a five-seatcapacity advantage in the Fairchild Dornier728–may no longer exist, as the Germanprogram sits idle while investors try tobuild a case for a re-launch. Although itlooked to have drawn a sale from India’sJet Airways during last year’s FarnboroughAir Show, the 175 remains unattached afterthe prospective launch customer failed toconvert its MOU to a firm order.

Other program customers includePoland’s LOT, which placed a firm order forten 170s in April and Guadalupe’s AirCaraibes, which has indefinitely deferred itsdeliveries of two 170s. One of the program’searliest customers, GECAS, canceled itsdelivery positions when it agreed to financeportions of the US Airways and JetBluedeals this spring. During the 2001 Paris AirShow, Embraer and Brazil’s TAM signed amemorandum of understanding that calledfor a firm order for 25 more 195s to replacesome of its Fokker 100s. But when, in De-cember 2001, the struggling carrier signed a15-year contract with Rolls-Royce for main-tenance on the Tay engines in all 50 of itsFokkers, it became apparent that its plansfor the Embraers had changed. Since thattime, however, TAM revived its plan to shedthe Fokkers, and on March 10 began a code-share arrangement with Varig expected tolead to a full merger. Varig, whose regionalsubsidiaries already fly 15 fifty-seat ERJ-145s, has indicated that it would “mostlikely” acquire Embraer 170s and 190s.

Late last August Embraer began cuttingmetal for the first 195 prototype, originallyscheduled for first flight during this year’sthird quarter and certification by the end ofnext year. However, the large order for 98-seat Embraer 190s by JetBlue and the un-certainties surrounding Swiss and its orderfor 195s prompted the Brazilian manufac-turer to shuffle development time frames.As a result, Embraer plans to certify the 190in the third quarter of 2005, followed by the195 a year later.

SUKHOIS-80–After several false starts, AVPKSukhoi flew its S-80 turboprop for the firsttime on Sept. 4, 2001, marking the start ofa 900-hour-flight testing program sched-uled to last into next year. Built by theKomsomolsk-upon-Amur Aircraft Produc-tion Association (KnAAPO) and shipped tothe Sukhoi experimental aircraft factory inMoscow early last year, the first S-80 pro-totype features a pair of GE CT7-9B turbo-props and a twin-boom design.

Late in 2001 KnAAPO began buildingfour of the airplanes with a 4.6-foot fuse-lage stretch, creating room to add six seatsto the baseline prototype’s 24-passengercapacity. KnAAPO expected to com-plete the first of the lengthened versions by

Embraer170

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BombardierCRJ900

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the middle of this year, followed by anothertwo by the end of the year and one next year.

Built to accommodate either a pair ofNPO Saturn TVD1500s or the GE power-plants, the S-80 has endured a series of de-sign changes and other program delays sinceits inception. With the decision to stretch theairplane to accommodate up to 30 seats,designers dropped plans to offer the under-powered Saturn engines. However, Klimovplans to offer its 2,500-shp TV7-117S tur-boprops for customized variants. To date,AVPK Sukhoi partners OKB Sukhoi andKnAAPO have spent $60 million on a sta-tic-test airframe built in 1998 and the onlyflying prototype, assembled by KnAAPO in1999 but reworked for flight testing by theSukhoi experimental aircraft factory.

Sukhoi claims the design could attractup to 40 percent of the Russian market forsmall regional airplanes and places its salestarget at 350 units, mainly as replacementsfor aging Yak-40s and Antonov An-24s. De-veloped as a multipurpose platform, the S-80 has also drawn interest from the de-fense departments of China, Malaysia andSouth Korea for its long loitering time–upto 10 hours–and its expected ability to flyfor 15 days or 50 flight hours without sig-nificant maintenance. The likely first opera-tor–KnAAPO’s own corporate shuttle andrevenue-passenger airline–plans to fly theairplane between Komsomolsk-upon-Amurto airports in Russia’s Far East.

RRJ–Officially unveiled during last year’sDomodedovo Civil Aviation Exhibition, theRRJ appears closer than ever to attractingthe seeds of financial support needed toreach certification–one of the government’sprerequisites for its own subsidy grant.Convinced of the program’s commercialviability, Russia’s Rosaviacosmos stateaerospace agency in March awarded theproposed Russian Regional Jet $46.6 mil-lion in research funding, the first tranche ofwhich it has pledged to deliver early nextyear. Meanwhile, AVPK Sukhoi generaldirector Mikhail Pogosyan has said the RRJconsortium of Sukhoi, Boeing, Ilyushin andYakovlev has won the financial support ofstate banks and a number of risk-sharingpartners, including $250 million from en-gine builder Snecma.

Under the terms of the financing pro-

gram, 33 percent of the project’s investmentwould come from base capital, 21 percentfrom risk-sharing partners, 6 percent fromstate funding and 40 percent from bankloans. Pogosyan estimates the program will

need $600 million for cer-tification and projectsbreak-even revenue returnswithin seven to eight yearsof the first sale.

The RRJ’s first prospec-tive customer–Russian flagcarrier Aeroflot–has signeda memorandum of under-standing that calls for theacquisition of 30 airplanes,first delivery of whichwould occur in 2007. Two

major Siberian carriers–Sibir and Kras Air–havealso shown interest, as hasfellow Russian airlineUTAir (formerly Tyume-naviatrans) and state leas-ing company FLK. AirFrance and the SkyTeamalliance represent theprojects’s main Westernprospects.

As drafted in the agree-ment signed by the air-frame builders, Sukhoi has assumed thelead role, taking responsibility for aircraftdesign, business plan development and se-ries production, while Ilyushin andYakovlev participate in certification and thedesign of some fuselage sections and com-ponents. Boeing’s role will center primarilyon market research, possible U.S. certifica-tion and after-sales support. Its participationhas not included financial support, however.

To encompass 60-, 75- and 95-seat ver-sions designed for cruise speeds of betweenMach 0.78 and 0.80 and varying in rangefrom 1,450 nm to 2,590 nm, the RRJ woulduse Franco-Russian designed SM146 turbo-fans, for which France’s Snecma wouldbuild the high-pressure core and Russia’sNPO Saturn would supply the low-pressurecomponents and perform final assembly.Meanwhile, Sukhoi has narrowed its choicesfor avionics to France’s Thales and Sagemand Moscow-based Aviapribor after Honey-well and Rockwell Collins each issued aless-than-enthusiastic response to requestsfor proposals. The RRJ partners plan todecide on the system early this fall.

Just before June’s Paris Air Show,Sukhoi unveiled its “short list” of projectparticipants for major components. It in-cludes NPP Zvzda, a major supplier on theinternational space station, and Scott Avia-tion for the oxygen system; Russia’s RubinAviation, Parker Aerospace, HamiltonSundstrand and Eaton Aerospace for thehydraulics; Liebherr, Messier-Dowty andGidromash for the undercarriage; Moog,Thales, Curtiss Wright, St. Petersburg-based Elektropribor and Aviapribor for theflight controls; France’s Zodiac, the UK’sFR-HiTemp and Russia’s Tekhpribor for thefuel system; Honeywell and NPO Teploob-mennik for the life-support system; and

Honeywell, HamiltonSundstrand, KB Salyut andNPO Saturn for the APU.

Boeing reconfirmed itscommitment to the pro-gram in March, whenPogosyan met with BoeingCommercial AirplanesGroup president Alan Mu-lally. The two signed a“long-term agreement”under which Boeing would

share intellectual property rights on aircraftdesign, production, certification, marketing,sales, after-sales support and project man-agement. The program partners plan to flythe RRJ for the first time in 2006, followedby service entry in early 2007.

TUPOLEVTu-334–Backed with a breakthrough MiG-29 fighter sale to Burma late in 2001, RSKMiG agreed to contribute $25 million to-ward flight testing of the 102-seat Tu-334in return for the rights to market the air-craft, laying the foundation for a firm planto gain Russian certification next year. Justmonths after RSK MiG produced its shareof the funding, the only flying prototypegained approval for restricted operations,

allowing it to fly within Russia and theCIS with passengers aboard.

While the first prototype approached 200test missions, a second test article underconstruction by Kiev-based Aviant pro-ceeded toward its rollout on August 2. RSKMiG, builder of the third prototype, hasnow invested some $50 million and expectsits contribution to the test program to fly forthe first time by late fall. Program partnersAviastar (front fuselage section), Tavia (tailsection and empennage), RSK MiG (na-celles) and Aviant (center fuselage andwings) plan to have completed four sets ofcomponents for series production by theend of this year.

Ulianovsk-based Aviastar, which buildsthe 210-seat Tu-204, earlyon in the program harboredits own plans to assemblethe Tu-334, as the twotypes share considerableparts and systems com-monality. Although in late1999 RSK MiG, Aviastarand Aviant signed a seriesof documents detailing co-operation on the Tu-334,the financial troubles atRSK MiG during 2000 andthe first half of 2001 gaveTupolev and Aviastar man-agers a platform on whichto attempt to force thefighter-plane builder out ofthe project. When MiG produced its shareof the funding, however, their ambitions fiz-zled along with the basis for their argument.

Now enjoying comparatively amplefunding, including $23 million of a $54million government pledge and $33 millionin bank loans, RSK MiG would like tobuild 130 airframes of a forecast market for350 aircraft by 2015. However, at their tar-get price of $18- to $20 million, the Tu-334cannot compete with used Boeing 737-500sor Airbus A319s, prompting MiG andTupolev to ask the Russian government forsales and property tax exemptions thatcould effectively drop the price to $14- to$15 million. The manufacturer has estab-lished a workshop for Tu-334 assembly atits LAPIK plant in Lukhovitsy, outsideMoscow, but it now asserts that it will not

start full-scale production until it gets its taxbreaks or economic conditions change.

The Tu-334 drew its first firm orders onAugust 15, when Moscow-based Atlant-Soyuz and Aerofrakht Airlines inked con-tracts for five airplanes apiece in standardconfiguration. Although the orders certainlyprovided a welcome lift, the Tu-334 part-ners still consider Aeroflot the ultimateprize. Meanwhile, a demonstration for Rus-sia’s second largest airline–St. Petersburg-based Pulkovo Airlines–has yielded atentative commitment for 20 Tu-334s asreplacements for its 11 Tu-134s.

Last year Tupolev, RSK MiG and Rolls-Royce Deutschland signed a deal to outfitTu-334s with BR715 engines in the hopeof attracting Western customers. Earlier,RSK MiG signed a proposal with EADS togive the European consortium responsibil-ity for international marketing and JAAcertification. Those plans apparently fiz-zled, however, after EADS asked RSKMiG to reduce the Tu-334’s normal pas-senger capacity to between 70 and 90 seatsto increase the margin between the Russianjet and the Airbus A318.

SUSPENDED PROGRAMSFAIRCHILD DORNIER728/928–Fairchild Dornier proved onceagain that an aircraft program cannot suc-ceed solely on its technical merits, as thelong-foundering 728 program sits idlewhile Shanghai-based investment houseD’Long tries to find a partner to re-launchdevelopment. In late June D’Long signeda deal with the Fairchild Dornier bank-ruptcy administrators for the rights to thesuspended program, but the company’s as-pirations to foster Chinese industrial partic-ipation have yet to materialize. Meanwhile,D’Long has established no set time framefor resumption of development, stressingthe need to negotiate new deals with all theprogram’s many suppliers.

The sale to D’Long marks the culmina-

tion of a 14-month effort by the 728 bank-ruptcy administrators to shed the last ofcompany’s four primary business units.After having failed to convince any suffi-ciently funded Western enterprise of theeconomic viability of the program, the ad-ministrators at one point turned to the likesof Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska in a last-ditch effort to salvage some equity from the728’s prototype, design plans and tooling.

After some passing interest in the 728 byCanada’s Bombardier and Europe’s EADSfaded completely, Basovy Element (BasicElement) director Deripaska, who alongwith fellow industrialist Roman Abra-movich controls some 75 percent of Rus-sia’s aluminum industry, sent a team oftechnicians from his Samara-based Aviacor

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group to examine the technical merits of theprogram. After several months of negotia-tion, the administrators agreed in principleto a sale. But when the Russian partnershipsubmitted a firm bid for only the Airbuscomponents business, it became apparentthat successful marriage would not come topass, as conflicts of interest within Russia’sbureaucracy added more obstacles to aprocess rife with intrinsic impediments.

Introduced at the 1998 Regional AirlineAssociation Convention in Minneapolis,Fairchild Dornier’s family of low-wing re-gional jets began taking shape in March2001, when the company began buildingthe first three 728 fuselages at its produc-tion facilities in Oberpfaffenhofen, Ger-many. Twelve months later Fairchild Dornierrolled out the first example during cere-monies overshadowed by a cloud of uncer-tainty, as former company chairman CharlesPieper reported a desperate state of finan-cial affairs at the regional aircraft industry’sthird-largest manufacturer.

While issuing a call for a new strategicpartner to help finance the development of anew long-range 728 variant called the 728-200, Pieper said the company continued tohemorrhage roughly $50 million per month,

forcing it to redirect funds from its otherprograms–namely the Envoy 7 business jetand 95- to 110-seat 928–to the first flight ofthe 728. More than a year later the first 728prototype still sat idle inside a companyhangar in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, col-lecting dust since insolvency administratorslaid off the 1,800 workers assigned to theprogram in May last year.

Severely undercapitalized during theearly phases of the aircraft’s development,the company appeared to secure the fund-ing it needed to proceed with its ambitiousproject in April 2000, when New York in-vestment firm Clayton, Dubilier & Riceteamed with Germany’s Allianz Capital tobuy Fairchild from former CEO Carl Al-bert. The proverbial well would run dry lastyear, however, as 728 program delays, fi-nancial penalties related to the cancellationof the 42-seat 428JET, delivery deferrals of32-seat 328JETs and the slumping econ-omy drained the company of its remainingcapital resources. Today, an investor wouldneed another $400 million to complete cer-tification of the 728, and perhaps $1 billionmore to bring the 928 to market.

Upon its introduction, the 728 estab-lished itself as the foundation on whichFairchild Dornier would build its futurewhen Germany’s Lufthansa Airlines placeda launch order for sixty 70- to 85-seat 728sin April 1999. Further anchored at the June2000 Berlin Air Show by a $1.4 billion firmcontract for 50 of the new jets from GECapital Aviation Services (GECAS), alaunch order for four 90- to 105-passenger

928s from Bavaria International Leasingand another commitment from CSA CzechAirlines for four 728s during last year’sParis Air Show, the program had drawn firmorders for 118 airplanes worth some $3.6billion. But not long after Fairchild’s bank-ruptcy announcement, its two largest cus-tomers–GECAS and Lufthansa CityLine–canceled their orders, leaving the programwith virtually no customer base.

INDONESIAN AEROSPACEN-250–After the FAA in 1996 refused toaccept Indonesian Aerospace’s (formerlyIPTN) second prototype for flight testingbecause of poor documentation, the man-ufacturer began anew and by 1998 hadcompleted half of its 1,400-hour testingprogram. A second prototype, slated for1,000 hours of testing, had flown 200 hours.

However, when the Inter-national Monetary Fund(IMF) forced the Indone-sian government to with-draw its support of theprogram, IAe had littlechoice but to adjust projec-tions for Indonesian certi-fication as well, fromMarch 1999 to the fourthquarter of 2000, and againindefinitely until it can re-cruit a risk-sharing partner

to contribute $90 million to complete theprogram. Most recent estimates from IAeplaced Indonesian certification in mid-2005.

When it flew for the first time in August1995, the 64-seat Allison AE2100C-pow-ered turboprop featuring fly-by-wire flightcontrols represented a source of prestige fora country that never before developed andproduced an indigenous airplane. But amidthe economic and political instability thatstruck the country during 1998, the interna-tional community demanded governmentlargesse to such enterprises as IAe bestopped as a condition of the IMF’s $43billion bailout plan.

Today, the IAe plant sits idle, after thecompany closed its doors to its entire work-force of 9,700 in July. The Bandung-basedcompany said the planned six-month shut-down will stave off bankruptcy while itsboard of directors formulates a rescue plan.The Indonesian Bank and RestructuringAgency is considering a plan to convertsome $200 million of the company’s out-standing debts into equity, contingent on aproposed government move to convert sub-ordinated loans worth $145 million.

LZ (LETECKE ZAVODY)AERONAUTICAL INDUSTRIES L-610G–Beset by funding shortages, a se-ries of ownership changes and political sub-terfuge since its designers first conceivedthe project in the mid-1980s, the L-610Gprogram remains grounded indefinitely, asits third owner in as many years languishes

in a sea of debt and attempts to attractanother $40 million to complete certifica-tion go unfulfilled. Awarded to MoravanAeroplanes subsidiary LZ Aeronautical In-dustries in July 2001 by a Czech bank-ruptcy administrator, the sole L-610Gprototype remains in a hangar in Albany,Ga., after the administrator and Moravanfailed to recover the airplane from receiversof the bankrupt Ayres Corp.

Although last autumn LZ vice presidentPatrik Joachimczyk told AIN that the com-pany would abandon the program if it had-n’t reached a funding deal with one of threepotential investors by the end of the year,LZ continues to cite interest from SouthKorea as a potential lifeline for the founder-ing L-610G. Meanwhile, the parent com-pany of Moravan Aeroplanes, MoravanOtrokovice, has fallen into bankruptcy, andU.S. entrepreneur Randall Brink continueshis quest to void the transfer of Let toMoravan. Brink, an aspiring airline chair-man and one of three bidders for Let’sassets after Albany-based Ayres Corp. lostcontrol of the company in spring 2001,claims the bankruptcy administrator actedimproperly by awarding Let to Moravanafter she obstructed his attempts to bid bywithholding critical contractual docu-ments. He also asserts that because thePrague-based private bank CSOB had fileda bankruptcy claim against MoravanOtrokovice before the end of the Let ten-der process, Moravan Aeroplanes shouldnot have legally qualified as a buyer.

In February Canadian partners in LZfiled criminal charges in the Czech Repub-lic against LZ chairman Libor Soska for al-leged misappropriation of their investment.Frontier Petroleum Services principles DonJewitt and Milan Matusik claim theybought 49 percent of the company’s stockfor Kc205 million ($6.9 million), but whenthey demanded an accounting of their in-vestment, LZ personnel physically blockedtheir entry into the plant for a board meet-ing. Soska claims the money represents aloan repayable in five years.

When Ayres Corp. chairman FredAyres negotiated with the Czech govern-ment to buy 93 percent of the founderingLet Kunovice in 1998, a tone of cautiousoptimism tempered creeping suspicionover the U.S. company’s motives. Al-though many of Let’s workers remainedskeptical about Ayres and his plans forLet, any chance for steady work in aneconomy struggling to adapt to a free-market system seemed better than thelikely alternative of unemployment.

Two years later, most of Let’s 1,400workers found themselves out of work,after the commerce court in Brno declaredthe company bankrupt. Saddled with amountain of debt incurred both before andafter the 1998 takeover and tormented bythreats of legal action from disgruntledcustomers, Ayres failed to deliver on hispromise to revitalize the half-century-oldmanufacturer, leaving a pair of new aircraft

programs, including the GE CT7-9D-pow-ered Let L-610G, in limbo.

Faced with numerous certification delaysand program changes since the airplane’sfirst iteration–the Walter-powered L-610M–appeared in 1989 under the stewardship ofthe Czech government, the L-610G ap-peared to have drawn its first customer in1999, when Bujumbura, Burundi-basedCity Connexion claimed to have placed anorder for two airplanes. A short time later,however, the government of Burundi seizedthe airline’s banking and gold-mining in-terests, prompting its management to returnto Europe post-haste. As if to complicatematters further, the company that brokeredthe contract–Switzerland’s Airline Part-ners–opted out of proposed deal for 30 air-planes that might have given Ayresenough deposit money to proceed with theairplane’s certification.

Four years later the former Let againstands at the center of Czech bankruptcypetitions, raising further doubt about thefuture of the L-610G and the rest of thecompany’s programs. Brink and FrontierPetroleum Services have both vowed to ag-gressively press their respective lawsuitsand eventually take control of the Let as-sets. Brink said the L-610G could possiblyfit into his plans, while Matusik flatly re-jected the viability of the program.

TUPOLEVTu-324–Seemingly rejuvenated by a fund-ing commitment from Rosaviacosmos inOctober 2001, the Tu-324 stood as Tupolev’sanswer to the estimated demand for be-tween 250 and 300 fifty-seat regional jetsfrom Russian/CIS airlines over the next 12years. The program, inspired by the im-mensely successful CRJ line by Canada’sBombardier, survived a decade of fundingshortages, design changes and politicalroadblocks, and appeared to have gainedthe support necessary to begin a seriouscampaign toward certification. But by theend of last year progress on the first Tu-324prototype had come to a complete halt, afterMoscow failed to appropriate the funds itallocated for the project.

Originally conceived as a business jetclosely resembling the Bombardier Chal-lenger, the Tu-324 evolved into a 52-pas-senger, 1,350-nm regional jet after marketstudies suggested a more immediate needfor a commercial program. Still officiallypart of Tupolev’s plans, the Tu-324A busi-ness jet would feature a six-foot shorterfuselage and extra fuel tanks, yielding arange of 4,000 nm.

Tupolev launched the program at the1995 Paris Air Show, soon after MentimerShaimiev, the president of the oil-richrepublic of Tatarstan, arranged a fundingscheme linked to revenues from oil sales.Under the plan, Tatarstan’s Kazan AircraftProduction Association (KAPO) would lo-cate an assembly line at its plant in the cap-ital city of Kazan, while Kazan’s OAOMotor Building Production Association(KMPO) would build the airplane’s ZMKBProgress 8,532-pound-thrust AI-22 turbo-fans. To demonstrate its support for the pro-gram, the Russian government placed asymbolic first order in February 1996.

That same year Tupolev developed a de-tailed design proposal and in July 1998passed a mockup inspection. However, thefall of the Russian banking system in Au-gust 1998 and subsequent pressure from theWorld Bank effectively ended the practiceof using oil as a de-facto currency, leavingthe Tu-324 underfunded and characterizedby periods of fits and starts to this day. o

R22 Aviation International News • www.ainonline.com September 17-19, 2003

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