http://www.airlinerworld.com 33TOP • The 737-300/400/500
series features a glass
cockpit in place of analogue
gauges. KEY COLLECTIONCaptionBoeing 737-2M2A D2-TBP
(c/n 23220) was one of ten
examples acquired by TAAG
Angola. KEY COLLECTIONthe aircraft as the -200 Advanced from
the 281st delivery onwards. With an
increased take-off weight, more
powerful engines and a greater fuel
capacity, the Advanced delivered a vast
improvement over its predecessors. Its
cabin was reconfigured to seat 130
passengers, while revisions to the wing
flaps and more powerful brakes allowed
the upgraded aircraft to operate into
smaller airports. In the later production
examples, airframe weight was also
reduced, by 1,000lb (454kg), using
carbon composites in the rudder,
elevators, ailerons and cabin interior.
This was, however, as far as Boeing
could take the 737 on JT8D power. The
jet continued to perform well against
the DC-9 and, later, the MD-80 series,
but when Europe’s Airbus Industrie
unveiled plans to marry a clean-sheet
competitor with the latest-generation
high bypass turbofan engines, the 737
was left in a precarious position.
With its A320, Airbus was offering the
much greater fuel efficiency of the CFM
International CFM56, fly-by-wire con-
trols and a wider cabin cross-section.
Boeing had allowed the market for small
jetliners to evade it once before and
would not repeat the mistake. It had
already begun to re-invent the 737.
Replacing a Classic
Large, powerful high-bypass turbo-
fans had been in development by
companies on both sides of the Atlantic
since the mid-1960s. This type of
engine offered higher thrust and
reduced fuel consumption compared
with lower bypass powerplants such
as the JT8 used on early 737s, but
British leisure carrier
Orion Airways became
the first export customer
for the 737-300 when it
took delivery of its maiden
example in January 1985.
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