Flight International — 22 August — 4 September 2017

AIR TRANSPORT

ightglobal.com 22 August-4 September 2017 | Flight International | 15

Early turn in An-

descent behind

Polar landing mishap

Air Transport P

R

ussian developers of a 300-

seat aircraft with a character-

istic wide elliptical fuselage have

opted to modify the proposal

substantially, revising the design

as a four-engined transport rather

than a twinjet.

The aircraft – developed by

Frigate Ecojet and rebranded as

the “Freejet” – will be powered

by modern engines introduced

for the single-aisle market.

Frigate Ecojet says it has em-

barked on a study, with the par-

ticipation of engine maker Aviad-

vigatel, to examine the use of

PD-14 engines on the proposed

aircraft. The PD-14 is being de-

veloped for the Irkut MC-21. But

the Ecojet team also indicates that

Pratt & Whitney PW1100G and

CFM International Leap power-

plants are options.

It states that, while the aircraft

was conceived as a twinjet, there

is a “lack” of modern engines in

the 39,000-50,000lb (177-223kN)

thrust range. The twinjet would

have been equipped with PD-18R

or PS-90A20 engines.

But the design has been re-

vamped as a four-engined air-

frame powered by engines with

26,400-30,800lb thrust. Its pro-

posed maximum take-off weight

has risen from just under 130t to

a little over 140t.

“We lost a little in aerodynam-

ics and weight [against the original

Ecojet] but gained a lot of advan-

tages,” says programme manager

Alexander Klimov. The aircraft

will be able to use current engine

technology and will aid the evo-

lution of an all-electric concept,

he says.

Switching to a four-engined de-

sign, however, will result in an

aircraft outwardly resembling the

Airbus A340 – which, like the

proposed Freejet, was also fitted

with powerplants used on the

single-aisle A320 and Boeing 737.

With an all-economy layout for

300 passengers in a 10-abreast

triple-aisle cabin, the Freejet

would have a range of 1,890nm

(3,500km), claim its designers,

increasing to 2,530nm with 244

passengers. ■

PROPOSAL DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON

Freejet gains thrust from engine switch

Faced with lack of suitable powerplants, developers of distinctive widebody opt to double the number of turbofans used

STRATEGY STEPHEN TRIMBLE WASHINGTON DC

Incumbents play down

Boeing Avionics threat

A

future Boeing Avionics or-

ganisation does not yet instil

fear among natural competitors.

In a series of presentations

to  investors and earnings calls,

avionics industry executives re-

sponded to the announced launch

on 31 July of Boeing Avionics in

tones ranging from bewilderment

to confidence that the new threat

will be contained.

Nicholas Howley, chief execu-

tive of TransDigm Aviation Tech-

nologies, says that Boeing’s strat-

egy is hard to decipher.

“The real answer is: I don’t

know where they go with it, I

don’t know what the impact is,”

Howley says.

Boeing plans to expand the

190-employee organisation today

to about 600 in 2019, with the first

products entering service in the

mid-2020s. But the new company

will face a “tough row to hoe” if it

strays into avionics products al-

ready installed on Boeing aircraft

with a supplier’s intellectual

property, Howley says.

However, Rockwell Collins

chief executive Kelly Ortberg is

more sanguine about Boeing’s ap-

proach. He does not believe the

new business will compete head-

on with his company’s products,

which are focused on displays,

radars and communications. In-

stead, Boeing will focus on navi-

gation systems, flight controls,

core computing and core avion-

ics, he says.

Ortberg compares Boeing’s

move to Collins’ existing relation-

ship with Airbus, which already

controls the core avionics pro-

cessing in its aircraft. ■

Triple-aisle design would have range of 1,890nm with 300 passengers

Frigate Ecojet

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