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commonality with the other CFM56-5s cargo variants. The first extended-fuselage An-148 assembly line, AVIC I used in the rest of the A320 family. An-74TK-300, now under assembly at the Kharkov has so far com- ARJ21 KhGAAP factory in Kharkov, will enter pleted the wing box and ANTONOV duty as a freighter for a Ukrainian cargo outer panels for the first An-74TK-300–After completing a 219- hauler. Antonov still has not decided prototype. Ulan-Ude con- mission flight-test program essentially on whether it will offer a stretched version of tinues work on the second schedule, Antonov and the Kharkov State the airplane in passenger configuration. assembly line, while the Aviation Production Company (KhGAPP) The An-74TK-300 uses 14,300-pound- Antonov plant in Kiev won AP-25 certification for the An-74TK- thrust ZMKB Progress D36-4A turbofans, nears completion of the modified to fit into the program’s third fuselage, Antonov under-wing nacelles, whose intended for structural test- An-74TK-300 additional noise-reduction ing. It plans to roll out the panels render the airplane first example this Decem- ICAO Stage 4 compliant. ber and fly it in March. Under the current Show, represents China’s most comprehen- Unlike the D36s found on schedule, the next two prototypes will fol- sive effort to build an international supplier earlier An-74s, the -4A low at four-month intervals. base for an indigenous aircraft. uses thrust reversers. The The partners view the An-148 as a natural Expected to cost some $900 million to As the air transport industry slowly recovers from a encouraging, the deal called for deliveries of new designs TK-300 also features new successor to the less capable and efficient develop, the airplane’s ultimate existence, sagging global economy and persistent geopolitical un- from both manufacturers–Embraer for the 70-seat 170 avionics, such as a Ukrain- An-74TK-300, which, although a new offer- as always, hinges on the Chinese govern- rest, regional airlines have recast themselves as agents and Bombardier for a 75-seat version of the CRJ900 ian-made SM3301 dual ing, carries many of the less modern features ment’s resolve in supporting the project. for change in a business often criticized for its inflexibility known as the CRJ705. But after the pilots of US Airways GPS receiver, a 150-para- of earlier An-74 variants. In fact, Antonov’s But after failing to launch efforts to develop and lack of fiscal discipline. But despite their robust invoked their scope clause to challenge the existence of meter BUR-92 flight-data MOU with Aeroflot for 30 TK-300s calls new regional jets with Airbus and Daimler traffic gains, regional airlines can hardly boast of windfall the 25 CRJ705s at the wholly owned regional unit, the 300 last October. First flown in April 2001, recorder, an Orlan VHF radio with 8.33- for an eventual replacement with An-148s. Benz, the Chinese have convinced a num- Breakthrough profits, as the rise of low-fare carriers and a newfound airline opted instead to assign an equal number of 70- the An-74TK-300 disposes of the An-74 kHz channel spacing, an Arlekin long-range Deputy chief designer Victor Kazurov ber of Western suppliers of the seriousness emphasis on cost control by partners continue seat CRJ700s to independent affiliate . family’s most distinguishing design fea- HF radio and a G-002M FMS. said the bureau launched the program after of this attempt, lending perhaps more cred- to suppress yields. Consequently, from the end of 2000 The move again left Bombardier without a new customer ture–namely, engine pylons mounted on top studies revealed that neither a turbofan ver- ibility to the project than first expected. through early this year regional aircraft order books for the CRJ900 ever since Mesa, coincidentally, placed of the wings. For the new model, engineers An-148–The first Antonov airplane ex- sion of the An-140 turboprop nor the An- Intended to withstand the hot-and-high orders showed little more than cancellations and delivery the program’s first airline order in March 2001 for its opted instead for a more traditional under- pected to make use of computer-aided de- 74TK-300 could compete internationally conditions common in western China, the deferrals as customers struggled to negotiate reasonable America West Express network. wing engine design, resulting in less drag, sign and manufacturing technology, the with new concepts such as the Sukhoi-led ARJ21 would feature rear-mounted GE financing terms. Just weeks after US Airways placed its orders on May higher lift-to-weight ratio, reduced fuel An-148 began taking shape last October, RRJ. Although many airlines asked for a CF34-10A turbofans, five-abreast seating, Meanwhile, new regional aircraft designs conceived 13, another of Embraer’s new products–the 98-seat Em- burn but diminished field performance. when the Ukrainian design bureau began 100-seater, he said, Antonov chose an 80- a standard range of 1,200 nm, a cruise during the 1990s market stood ready to vie for airline braer 190–drew the Brazilian manufacturer’s first sale in Designers of the original An-74s chose building the type’s first fuselage. Less than seat design to avoid direct competition with speed of Mach 0.8, Western avionics and a breathe life acceptance. Unfortunately for those who staked their the burgeoning low-fare market. The order for 100 air- to place the engines on top of the wings to six months later the company removed the the Tu-334, now undergoing certi- super-critical wing designed by ’s futures on costly new aircraft programs, the timing planes from New York-based JetBlue carried special signifi- meet military requirements for STOL per- completed section from its assembly jig in fication trials. However, a recent decision to Antonov. Rated to produce 18,500 pounds couldn’t have been worse, as apprehension in both the cance not only because it validated Embraer’s long-held formance and isolation from FOD. The time to proceed with scheduled production switch to more powerful but heavier en- of thrust, the GE engine won a propulsion consumer and financial markets spelled the demise of belief that its new line of jets would appeal to low-fare car- configuration harnesses the Coanda effect of the first airframe and first flight by the gines might prompt Antonov to reconsider. competition that included the Rolls-Royce into sagging such programs as the BAE Systems RJX and the bank- riers, but because it proved a so-called manu- for better lift and protects the engines from end of this year. The first prototype, to The company originally planned to use Deutschland BR710, the Pratt & Whitney ruptcy of Germany’s Fairchild Dornier. facturer could effectively compete with Airbus and Boeing. ingesting debris during takeoff and land- feature a completely new high-wing con- ZMKB Progress D36-5 engines for the An- PW800 and Snecma’s proposed SM146. ing. Potential airline customers have ex- figuration and ZMKB Progress D436-148 148, but the engine company’s desire to Although the -10 represents a consider- While defunct startup ventures such as Earl Robinson’s Of course, major airlines have long played an active pressed a clear preference for less fuel turbofans from Motor Sich, could gain CIS expand its customer base for its new D436- able capability increase over other CF34 Alliance Aircraft never really stood a chance in this bar- if not dominant role in negotiating RJ acquisitions for burn and higher cruise 148s led to a decision to switch. The models, it incorporates many parts scaled ren lending environment, even the best established com- their regional partners, so the likes of Embraer and market speed, however, leading to Antonov FADEC-equipped D436-148 benefits from from the CFM56-7 and CF34-8 and the panies enacted capacity reductions and employee layoffs. Bombardier selling jets directly to US Airways, for exam- the development of the An-148 new technologies developed for the D436T same basic design philosophy of the CF34- Although much of Bombardier’s predicament arose from ple, came as no surprise. But the extent to which their An-74TK-300. used on the Tupolev Tu-334 and Be- 3 series and -8 series engines, making it a a slump in the business aircraft market, for the first time products eventually fly in mainline networks remains a The new model boasts 200. The bureau claims the design’s next- relatively low-risk choice, according to GE. in recent memory a prolonged lull in demand for regional matter for speculation. Differing opinions about the an increase in top cruise generation noise-absorbing panels, chevron A partial mockup of the ARJ21 appeared forced the Canadian giant–as well as direction of the airline industry have led to varied speed from 378 to 405 nozzle and enlarged “screening effect” air at June’s Paris Air Show, where Chinese its chief rival, Brazil’s Embraer–to slash production rates. approaches to new products, ranging from completely knots and a 20-percent intake will allow it to meet Stage 4 stan- officials announced that Hamilton Sund- by Gregory Polek This year, however, a breakthrough came when US Air- new, “clean sheet” designs to less costly derivatives. drop in fuel burn, to be- dards by a “comfortable margin.” strand won a competition to supply the air- ways placed landmark orders for 170 regional jets, split The following report encapsulates those, as well as the tween 2,685 and 3,085 An-148 designers opted for a glass cock- plane’s electrical power system and to act as equally between Embraer and Bombardier. Even more rest of the industry’s new offerings. pph, depending on condi- pit featuring five 6- by 8-inch LCDs built a system integration partner with AVIC I. tions. However, at its mtow by ’s Aviapribor. The digitally con- Less than two months earlier, in late April, of 82,673 pounds, the An- trolled onboard systems will feature fly-by- fellow U.S. aerospace contractor Rockwell AIRBUS meet promised fuel-burn performance. certification and first-delivery targets. sor. But the PW6000’s five-stage design 74TK-300 needs an extra 655 feet of certification by the end of next year and wire controls using technology developed for Collins signed a deal to provide the entire A318–Certified by Europe’s JAA and the That airplane flew its maiden voyage on A second prototype, also powered by placed too much strain on each stage, cre- runway for takeoff at sea level and ISA enter service with its launch customer, the An-70 cargo transport. In the interest of ARJ21 avionics and cockpit integration U.S. FAA in late spring, the newest and January 15 last year, but instead of drawing PW6000s, flew for the first time in June last ating a condition in which fuel burn reached conditions. Russian cargo carrier Volga-Dnepr, in cost savings, the bureau confined the use of packages. The ARJ21 cockpit would include smallest member of Airbus’ A320 family the usual fanfare reserved for such festive year and also took part in CFM testing a point of diminishing returns. As a result, Antonov originally applied for comple- early 2005. Western components to some elements of the five Collins 10- by 8-inch LCDs, Pro Line arrived at the Denver base of launch cus- occasions the milestone flight served to before withdrawing from the program in Pratt & Whitney adopted a six-stage com- mentary type approval under the NLGS-3 Maligned in Russia initially as a public- airplane’s Ukrainian and Russian avionics 21 CNS radio sensors, an FMS-4200 flight tomer on July 29. Pow- highlight mistakes made in the design of the February for customer refurbishment. pressor design from German engine builder certificate issued to the original An-74 by ity stunt, the An-148 assumed instant credi- modules, including those for satellite-based management system, EICAS and an AHS- ered by a pair of CFM56-5B8 turbofans, 22,000-pound-thrust Pratt engines. The pro- Meanwhile, in late March, original launch MTU. The change has resulted in a three- the in 1991. However, the Air bility when Antonov began cutting metal for navigation and Cat IIIa landing capability. 3000 attitude heading reference system. the single-class, 114-seat A318 joined the totype jetliner burned some 6 percent more customer Air France said it would defer year delay in the engine’s certification and Register of International Aviation Commit- the project in March last year. Antonov, en- Under current plans, the basic An-148- AVIC I plans to build major airframe low-fare carrier’s fleet of 19 A319s, mark- fuel than projected, a discovery that forced some of its firm orders for 15 A318s by a service entry, from late 2002 to 2005. tee persuaded the company to withdraw its gine builder Motor Sich and Russian airframe 100 would hold 80 passengers in five- components at its subsidiaries’ factories in ing the start of another phase in its ongo- Airbus to completely revamp its certifica- year. However, it did not indicate whether Although Pratt & Whitney designed its application and file again under AP-25, manufacturer Ulan-Ude have agreed to share abreast configuration with 30-inch pitch or Xian, Shenyang and Chengdu, while the ing transition to an all-Airbus fleet. tion schedule to accommodate the approval the decision would delay first delivery, ten- engine for relatively high-cycle, short-haul which, unlike NLGS-3, parallels FAR Part the financial risk in a joint-venture agree- 70 at 34 inches. For Siberian operators, Shanghai Airplane Manufacturing Plant Appearing at its first public display at first of a version powered by CFM56-5s. tatively scheduled for October. Aside from operations, the 131,000-pound-mtow, 2,800- 25 standards and allows for a worldwide ment signed in 2001. Under the agreement, Antonov plans to build a derivative with a assumes responsibility for preliminary de- June’s Paris Air Show, Frontier’s first A318 After completing 100 hours of testing in Air France and Frontier, which holds firm nm-range A318 appears better suited to customer base. production assembly will take place in Rus- higher max takeoff weight and more fuel sign, assembly and administration. continued to behave “as expected” in rev- the first prototype with the PW6000s, Air- orders for five airplanes, GECAS holds a long-haul duty than its primary competitor, The Ukrainian design bureau’s most sia at the Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant (UUAZO) capacity in the center tank, extending range Expected to add some 1,900 airplanes to enue service, following the failure of the bus fitted the airplane with the CFMs, firm order for 30 of the CFM-powered jets the Boeing 717-200, whose optimum mis- coveted customer–Aeroflot–last summer and in Ukraine by the Kharkov State Avia- with 75 passengers from 1,187 nm to 1,943 its fleets over the next 20 years, China rep- program’s first prototype–originally pow- allowing it to resume flight testing on Au- and expects to take first deliveries next year. sion lies between 350 nm and 500 nm. signed a memorandum of understanding to tion Production Company (KhGAPP), which nm. It also plans to offer a special 2,752- resents a potential market worth $165 bil- ered by the Pratt & Whitney PW6000–to gust 29 of last year–in time to meet its new Other customers for the PW6000-pow- Billed at their inception as the companies’ evaluate the variant as one of the possible also participates in design work and sup- nm-range “E” variant, which would serve lion, according to program advisor Boeing, ered A318, such as British Airways and first regional jets, both the A318 and 717- replacements for its aging Tu-134s. If the plies the Antonov experimental factory in as a platform for the E1, capable of carry- which estimates that 77 percent of the Airbus A318 Egyptair, have canceled their orders, 200 have drawn little interest from the An-74TK-300 proves suitable and Antonov Kiev with central fuselage sections, wing ing between 40 and 44 passengers 3,777 nm demand would involve single-aisle air- while launch customer International Lease sector, however. Faced with agrees to build half the airplanes in Russia, panels, engine nacelles and pylons. for nonstop -Vladivostok service. planes such as the ARJ21, now expected to Finance and agreed scope-clause barriers in the U.S. and airport Aeroflot would lease 30 airplanes through Meanwhile, Kiev-based Aviant will Antonov has targeted a list price of $17 fly for the first time in 2005 and enter ser- to defer first deliveries until at least 2005. fee constraints in Europe, the A318 even Finance and the UkrTransLizing build empennages, hatches and doors, while million and direct operating costs ranging vice in early 2007. Yet another high-profile customer, AMR, more so than the 717 displays mainline leasing companies. Antonov claims that it rocket builder YuzhMash supplies landing between 25- and 30 percent lower than those dropped an order for 50 A318s placed by weight and performance, rendering its com- also holds commitments for several VIP gear and noise-absorbing panels for engine pegged for the Embraer 170. BOMBARDIER TWA before its merger with American Air- monality with the rest of the A320 line as An-74TK-300s from the Ukrainian cabinet nacelles based on materials developed for CRJ900–After 895 hours flown by two lines. Airbus says it now holds firm orders perhaps its best selling point. ministry and other state agencies, as well as launch vehicles. Most recently, Russia’s AVIC I prototypes over the span of 13 months, for 84 A318s. Last year the FAA and the French civil orders for freighter versions from Chinese, Voronezh Aircraft Production Association ARJ21–Pent-up demand for low-cost re- Bombardier’s newest and largest regional The source of the fuel-efficiency prob- aviation directorate jointly certified two Ukrainian and Russian cargo carriers. (VASO) has expressed a desire to join the gional jets in the People’s Republic has con- earned its type certificate from H S

O lem in the Pratt & Whitney-powered A318 new thrust ratings for the CFM-powered While Antonov considers the passenger An-148 program, promoting itself as a vinced China Aviation Industry Corporation Transport Canada on September 12 of last T N I

C stemmed from an ambition to lighten and A318s. The CFM56-5B8, rated at 21,600 version of the An-74TK-300 something of superior alternative to the Ulan-Ude plant (AVIC) to launch the development of a 70- year. A full two years later, Bombardier’s M D

I simplify the engine by minimizing the num- pounds of thrust, and the CFM56-5B9, a bridge to its new An-148, its long-term because of its proximity to Kharkov. to 90-seat RJ known as the ARJ21. The con- order books show a grand sales total of 25 V A

D ber of stages in the high-pressure compres- rated at 23,300 pounds, feature full parts plans for the model appear to center on In the process of building the first cept, first unveiled at the 2001 Beijing Air more on next page R18 Aviation International News • www.ainonline.com September 17-19, 2003

larger, 98-seat Embraer 190. tomer Swiss, but because that airline de- below 10,000 feet to 300 knots. Other The CRJ900 reached the market some ferred first delivery until well into next year, changes included an enlarged rear passen- two years before the scheduled first delivery Embraer plans to reconfigure it for another ger door, a reinforcement to the cargo bay of the 78-seat Embraer 175, its closest com- customer. By August it had also finished that allows an additional 74 pounds of pay- continued from preceding page petitor in terms of seating capacity and both production airplanes destined this year load per passenger and an extension of the weight. Embraer promotes for Alitalia, bringing the total number of 170’s designed lifespan from 60,000 to Bombardier the 175’s more spacious completed airplanes in the program to 11. 80,000 cycles. Although the changes re- CRJ900 cabin and baggage capacity A risk-sharing partner in the Embraer sulted in a basic operating weight increase as vital for the longer 170, Honeywell continues work on the of 3,306 pounds, Embraer claims the im- routes it believes airplanes integration of the Epic systems’ CAT II ap- provements more than compensate for the in that seat class will serve. proach, autothrottle and wind-shear detec- extra weight. Nevertheless, a tentative tion software with the help of the first Although it originally had planned a launch order from India’s Embraer 175 prototype, flown to Phoenix in three-member family, Embraer decided to Jet Airways fizzled earlier late July specifically for cockpit trou- introduce the 175 in October 2001, after a this year with the airline’s bleshooting. By press time Honeywell had number of customers expressed a desire for ability to finance the air- sent 11 of the 12 loads of Epic software to the extra two rows of seats, most notably units from a single customer, leaving many planes, leaving Embraer with only a tenta- Embraer. It planned to send the final load 170 launch customer Swiss. However, what wondering whether the “sweet spot” to tive commitment from US Airways to by the end of this month. stood as perhaps the most compelling argu- which executives referred when they convert some positions for 70-seat 170s to First acknowledged by Embraer CEO ment for the stretch variant–a five-seat launched the program in 2000 had ripened 175s. Mauricio Botelho during June’s Paris Air capacity advantage in the Fairchild Dornier prematurely. In reaction to “competitive pressures,” Show, the certification delay marked at least 728–may no longer exist, as the German Introduced on the strength of a launch Bombardier last year assigned more range the third such setback for the Embraer 170. program sits idle while investors try to order for 10 airplanes from leasing giant to the CRJ900 with a so-called paperwork In Paris, Embraer said it had hoped to em- build a case for a re-launch. Although it GECAS, the CRJ900 drew its first airline mod that increased its maximum reach to ploy a so-called “two phase” approach, under looked to have drawn a sale from India’s customer in March 2001, when Phoenix- 1,914 nm. Dubbed the CRJ900LR during which it would certify the airplane in July Jet Airways during last year’s Farnborough based Mesa Air Group signed a letter of last year’s Farnborough Air Show, the new without Cat II landing capability, autothrot- Air Show, the 175 remains unattached after intent that called for a firm order for 20 of variant shows a maximum takeoff weight of tle and wind shear detection, then add the ex- the prospective launch customer failed to the 86-seat jets and an option for another 84,500 pounds–4,000 pounds more than the tras for a subsequent approval in November. convert its MOU to a firm order. 20. Once its own prospects for placing the standard CRJ900 and 2,000 pounds higher However, the company later acknowledged Other program customers include airplanes disintegrated, however, GECAS than the mid-range CRJ900ER. Bombardier that Alitalia never agreed to such a plan. Poland’s LOT, which placed a firm order for canceled its order, leaving Mesa as the 86- v-p Barry McKinnon explained that the Despite the program’s early technical ten 170s in April and Guadalupe’s Air seat jet’s only customer. Mesa subsequently company arrived at the extra range by ap- problems, the Embraer 170/190 family has Caraibes, which has indefinitely deferred its converted firm orders for five CRJ700s to a portioning the higher takeoff weights, thus broken new ground in terms of sales, most deliveries of two 170s. One of the program’s follow-on order for five CRJ900s, bringing expanding the airplane’s payload-range en- notably in the low-fare sector, where New earliest customers, GECAS, canceled its the program total to 25. velope without modifying the airframe. York-based JetBlue placed an order for 100 delivery positions when it agreed to finance Mesa placed the first aircraft–dressed in Embraer 190s in early June. Of course, the portions of the US Airways and JetBlue America West Express livery and configured EMBRAER order placed by US Airways in May for 85 deals this spring. During the 2001 Paris Air in a two-class, 80-seat cabin layout–into ser- 170/175/190/195–Formally introduced to the Embraer 170s, even if not particularly lucra- Show, Embraer and Brazil’s TAM signed a vice on a route between Los Angeles and world during the 1999 Paris Air Show, the tive, did much to raise the program’s visibil- memorandum of understanding that called Phoenix in late April. After America West’s first iteration of Embraer’s latest regional jet ity and stature in the U.S. Most recently, for a firm order for 25 more 195s to replace pilots rejected a proposed labor deal that family–the 70-seat 170–now appears likely Embraer received a formal request for pro- some of its Fokker 100s. But when, in De- would have placed new numerical limits on to gain JAA and FAA certification in No- posal (RFP) from the to fill a re- cember 2001, the struggling carrier signed a such large-capacity RJs, the Phoenix-based vember, some 21 months after it first took to quirement for at least 100 jets in the 70- to 15-year contract with Rolls-Royce for main- airline remains one of last major carriers in the air on Feb. 19, 2002. Originally sched- 100-seat range. Although on the surface Em- tenance on the Tay engines in all 50 of its the U.S. whose regional affiliates enjoy uled for certification by the end of last year, braer appears the only choice for a family of Fokkers, it became apparent that its plans unfettered access to regional jets certified to the six Embraer 170 prototypes have en- jets spanning that entire capacity range, po- for the Embraers had changed. Since that carry more than 70 passengers. Despite countered more than their share of technical litical considerations could carry as much time, however, TAM revived its plan to shed manufacturers’ early projections that such challenges, perhaps the most significant weight as any in the final decision, particu- the Fokkers, and on March 10 began a code- scope restrictions would eventually dissolve, larly in a deal that could in- share arrangement with Varig expected to they remain perhaps the biggest obstacles to Embraer volve four airlines with lead to a full merger. Varig, whose regional serious market penetration of airplanes in 170 vastly different agendas. subsidiaries already fly 15 fifty-seat ERJ- the CRJ900’s capacity class. Led by Lufthansa, the group 145s, has indicated that it would “most Such scope-clause constraints again re- of airlines involved also in- likely” acquire Embraer 170s and 190s. vealed their disruptive potential as recently cludes SAS, Air Canada Late last August Embraer began cutting as July, when union pressure compelled US and Austrian Airlines. metal for the first 195 prototype, originally Airways to convert a firm order for 25 When Swiss deferred its scheduled for first flight during this year’s Bombardier CRJ705s to positions for 70- first deliveries to August third quarter and certification by the end of seat CRJ700s and assign the airplanes to next year, it also cut its firm next year. However, the large order for 98- Mesa. Originally scheduled for first deliv- order totals for the Embraer seat Embraer 190s by JetBlue and the un- ery to wholly owned US Airways sub- 170/195 to 15 of each certainties surrounding Swiss and its order sidiary PSA Airlines early next year, the model from 30, and re- for 195s prompted the Brazilian manufac- CRJ705–a planned 75-seat, 82,500-pound- duced its option total from turer to shuffle development time frames. mtow version of the CRJ900–would weigh 100 to 20. Under the new As a result, Embraer plans to certify the 190 more than the 75,000-pound-mtow, 70-seat involving the airplane’s Honeywell Epic schedule, deliveries of the 108-seat 195s in the third quarter of 2005, followed by the limits imposed on US Airways regional af- avionics suite. Problems with the integration will start in 2006. Although certainly un- 195 a year later. filiates by the mainline pilots’ union scope of the system’s software has delayed first de- welcome news for Embraer, the delay will clause. Although it agreed to an exemption liveries to launch customer Alitalia from July give it time to complete certification of the SUKHOI for the Embraer 170 and 175, ALPA’s US to November, leaving Embraer in the unen- 170 for operation into London City Airport, S-80–After several false starts, AVPK Airways division refused to grant further viable position of playing catch-up while it a process that has taken longer than origi- Sukhoi flew its S-80 turboprop for the first concessions for the Bombardier jet. chases development of the three other vari- nally anticipated. When it signed the order time on Sept. 4, 2001, marking the start of Meanwhile, in Europe, where scope ants in the program. Right around the time it contract with the airline then known as a 900-hour-flight testing program sched- clauses present virtually none of the market announced the 170’s latest delay, during Crossair, Embraer guaranteed it could cer- uled to last into next year. Built by the constraints they do in the U.S., the CRJ900 June’s Paris Air Show, it flew the program’s tify the 170 for the 5.5-deg approach angle Komsomolsk-upon-Amur Aircraft Produc- has faced an even tougher sell, drawing just second iteration–the 76-seat Embraer 175– into LCY from Geneva. Now targeted for tion Association (KnAAPO) and shipped to a single firm order from France’s Brit Air for the first time. The second 175 prototype completion by next summer, the LCY certi- the Sukhoi experimental aircraft factory in for four airplanes, only to see it canceled a flew its maiden mission on August 7. Em- fication process prompted Embraer to fit the Moscow early last year, the first S-80 pro- few months later. braer expects the stretch variant to gain certi- 170 with a set of ventral brakes, perma- totype features a pair of GE CT7-9B turbo- Although its commonality attributes ap- fication during next year’s third quarter. nently locked for initial certification but ac- props and a twin-boom design. peal most to regional airlines already flying Alitalia has opted to maintain its origi- tivated for the steep approach trials into the Late in 2001 KnAAPO began building CRJs, the 86-seat jet might also fill a role at nally planned delivery rate of one per noise-sensitive airport. four of the airplanes with a 4.6-foot fuse- the lowest end of the single-aisle mainline month, meaning it will take two airplanes During the program’s detailed design lage stretch, creating room to add six seats range, surmised Bombardier. The company this year then four through next April. Along phase Embraer engineers also added to the baseline prototype’s 24-passenger has yet to realize that ambition, however, as with the six Embraer 170 prototypes and the winglets to the 170’s design, a modification capacity. KnAAPO expected to com- rival Embraer prepares to fill its first order two flying 175s, the company had also built expected to yield a range increase of 3- to plete the first of the lengthened versions by from the emerging low-fare niche with the a production 170 for original launch cus- 5 percent and a cruise speed improvement more on page R20 R20 Aviation International News • www.ainonline.com September 17-19, 2003

gram, 33 percent of the project’s investment share intellectual property rights on aircraft start full-scale production until it gets its tax would come from base capital, 21 percent design, production, certification, marketing, breaks or economic conditions change. from risk-sharing partners, 6 percent from sales, after-sales support and project man- The Tu-334 drew its first firm orders on state funding and 40 percent from bank agement. The program partners plan to fly August 15, when Moscow-based Atlant- continued from page R18 loans. Pogosyan estimates the program will the RRJ for the first time in 2006, followed Soyuz and Aerofrakht Airlines inked con- need $600 million for cer- by service entry in early 2007. tracts for five airplanes apiece in standard Sukhoi tification and projects configuration. Although the orders certainly S-80 break-even revenue returns TUPOLEV provided a welcome lift, the Tu-334 part- within seven to eight years Tu-334–Backed with a breakthrough MiG- ners still consider Aeroflot the ultimate of the first sale. 29 fighter sale to Burma late in 2001, RSK prize. Meanwhile, a demonstration for Rus- The RRJ’s first prospec- MiG agreed to contribute $25 million to- sia’s second largest airline–St. Petersburg- tive customer–Russian flag ward flight testing of the 102-seat Tu-334 based Pulkovo Airlines–has yielded a carrier Aeroflot–has signed in return for the rights to market the air- tentative commitment for 20 Tu-334s as a memorandum of under- craft, laying the foundation for a firm plan replacements for its 11 Tu-134s. standing that calls for the to gain Russian certification next year. Just Last year Tupolev, RSK MiG and Rolls- acquisition of 30 airplanes, months after RSK MiG produced its share Royce Deutschland signed a deal to outfit first delivery of which of the funding, the only flying prototype Tu-334s with BR715 engines in the hope would occur in 2007. Two gained approval for restricted operations, of attracting Western customers. Earlier, the middle of this year, followed by another major Siberian carriers– RSK MiG signed a proposal with EADS to two by the end of the year and one next year. Sibir and Kras Air–have Tupolev give the European consortium responsibil- Built to accommodate either a pair of also shown interest, as has Tu-334 ity for international marketing and JAA NPO Saturn TVD1500s or the GE power- fellow Russian airline certification. Those plans apparently fiz- plants, the S-80 has endured a series of de- UTAir (formerly Tyume- zled, however, after EADS asked RSK sign changes and other program delays since naviatrans) and state leas- MiG to reduce the Tu-334’s normal pas- its inception. With the decision to stretch the ing company FLK. Air senger capacity to between 70 and 90 seats airplane to accommodate up to 30 seats, France and the SkyTeam to increase the margin between the Russian designers dropped plans to offer the under- alliance represent the jet and the Airbus A318. powered Saturn engines. However, Klimov projects’s main Western plans to offer its 2,500-shp TV7-117S tur- prospects. SUSPENDED PROGRAMS boprops for customized variants. To date, As drafted in the agree- AVPK Sukhoi partners OKB Sukhoi and ment signed by the air- FAIRCHILD DORNIER KnAAPO have spent $60 million on a sta- frame builders, Sukhoi has assumed the allowing it to fly within Russia and the 728/928–Fairchild Dornier proved once tic-test airframe built in 1998 and the only lead role, taking responsibility for aircraft CIS with passengers aboard. again that an aircraft program cannot suc- flying prototype, assembled by KnAAPO in design, business plan development and se- While the first prototype approached 200 ceed solely on its technical merits, as the 1999 but reworked for flight testing by the ries production, while Ilyushin and test missions, a second test article under long-foundering 728 program sits idle Sukhoi experimental aircraft factory. participate in certification and the construction by Kiev-based Aviant pro- while Shanghai-based investment house Sukhoi claims the design could attract design of some fuselage sections and com- ceeded toward its rollout on August 2. RSK D’Long tries to find a partner to re-launch up to 40 percent of the Russian market for ponents. Boeing’s role will center primarily MiG, builder of the third prototype, has development. In late June D’Long signed small regional airplanes and places its sales on market research, possible U.S. certifica- now invested some $50 million and expects a deal with the Fairchild Dornier bank- target at 350 units, mainly as replacements tion and after-sales support. Its participation its contribution to the test program to fly for ruptcy administrators for the rights to the for aging Yak-40s and Antonov An-24s. De- has not included financial support, however. the first time by late fall. Program partners suspended program, but the company’s as- veloped as a multipurpose platform, the To encompass 60-, 75- and 95-seat ver- Aviastar (front fuselage section), Tavia (tail pirations to foster Chinese industrial partic- S-80 has also drawn interest from the de- sions designed for cruise speeds of between section and empennage), RSK MiG (na- ipation have yet to materialize. Meanwhile, fense departments of China, Malaysia and Mach 0.78 and 0.80 and varying in range celles) and Aviant (center fuselage and D’Long has established no set time frame South Korea for its long loitering time–up from 1,450 nm to 2,590 nm, the RRJ would wings) plan to have completed four sets of for resumption of development, stressing to 10 hours–and its expected ability to fly use Franco-Russian designed SM146 turbo- components for series production by the the need to negotiate new deals with all the for 15 days or 50 flight hours without sig- fans, for which France’s Snecma would end of this year. program’s many suppliers. nificant maintenance. The likely first opera- build the high-pressure core and Russia’s Ulianovsk-based Aviastar, which builds The sale to D’Long marks the culmina- tor–KnAAPO’s own corporate shuttle and NPO Saturn would supply the low-pressure the 210-seat Tu-204, early revenue-passenger airline–plans to fly the components and perform final assembly. on in the program harbored Fairchild Dornier airplane between Komsomolsk-upon-Amur Meanwhile, Sukhoi has narrowed its choices its own plans to assemble 728 to airports in Russia’s Far East. for avionics to France’s Thales and Sagem the Tu-334, as the two and Moscow-based Aviapribor after Honey- types share considerable RRJ–Officially unveiled during last year’s well and Rockwell Collins each issued a parts and systems com- Domodedovo Civil Aviation Exhibition, the less-than-enthusiastic response to requests monality. Although in late RRJ appears closer than ever to attracting for proposals. The RRJ partners plan to 1999 RSK MiG, Aviastar the seeds of financial support needed to decide on the system early this fall. and Aviant signed a series reach certification–one of the government’s Just before June’s Paris Air Show, of documents detailing co- prerequisites for its own subsidy grant. Sukhoi unveiled its “short list” of project operation on the Tu-334, Convinced of the program’s commercial participants for major components. It in- the financial troubles at viability, Russia’s Rosaviacosmos state cludes NPP Zvzda, a major supplier on the RSK MiG during 2000 and aerospace agency in March awarded the international space station, and Scott Avia- the first half of 2001 gave proposed Russian Regional Jet $46.6 mil- tion for the oxygen system; Russia’s Rubin Tupolev and Aviastar man- lion in research funding, the first tranche of Aviation, Parker Aerospace, Hamilton agers a platform on which which it has pledged to deliver early next Sundstrand and Eaton Aerospace for the to attempt to force the year. Meanwhile, AVPK Sukhoi general hydraulics; Liebherr, Messier-Dowty and fighter-plane builder out of director has said the RRJ Gidromash for the undercarriage; Moog, the project. When MiG produced its share tion of a 14-month effort by the 728 bank- consortium of Sukhoi, Boeing, Ilyushin and Thales, Curtiss Wright, St. Petersburg- of the funding, however, their ambitions fiz- ruptcy administrators to shed the last of Yakovlev has won the financial support of based Elektropribor and Aviapribor for the zled along with the basis for their argument. company’s four primary business units. state banks and a number of risk-sharing flight controls; France’s Zodiac, the UK’s Now enjoying comparatively ample After having failed to convince any suffi- partners, including $250 million from en- FR-HiTemp and Russia’s Tekhpribor for the funding, including $23 million of a $54 ciently funded Western enterprise of the gine builder Snecma. fuel system; Honeywell and NPO Teploob- million government pledge and $33 million economic viability of the program, the ad- Under the terms of the financing pro- mennik for the life-support system; and in bank loans, RSK MiG would like to ministrators at one point turned to the likes Honeywell, Hamilton build 130 airframes of a forecast market for of Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska in a last- Sukhoi Sundstrand, KB Salyut and 350 aircraft by 2015. However, at their tar- ditch effort to salvage some equity from the RRJ NPO Saturn for the APU. get price of $18- to $20 million, the Tu-334 728’s prototype, design plans and tooling. Boeing reconfirmed its cannot compete with used Boeing 737-500s After some passing interest in the 728 by commitment to the pro- or Airbus A319s, prompting MiG and Canada’s Bombardier and Europe’s EADS gram in March, when Tupolev to ask the Russian government for faded completely, Basovy Element (Basic Pogosyan met with Boeing sales and property tax exemptions that Element) director Deripaska, who along Commercial Airplanes could effectively drop the price to $14- to with fellow industrialist Roman Abra- Group president Alan Mu- $15 million. The manufacturer has estab- movich controls some 75 percent of Rus- lally. The two signed a lished a workshop for Tu-334 assembly at sia’s aluminum industry, sent a team of “long-term agreement” its LAPIK plant in Lukhovitsy, outside technicians from his Samara-based Aviacor under which Boeing would Moscow, but it now asserts that it will not more on page R22 R22 Aviation International News • www.ainonline.com September 17-19, 2003

Let programs, including the GE CT7-9D-pow- L-610G ered Let L-610G, in limbo. Faced with numerous certification delays and program changes since the airplane’s continued from page R20 first iteration–the Walter-powered L-610M– appeared in 1989 under the stewardship of group to examine the technical merits of the the Czech government, the L-610G ap- program. After several months of negotia- peared to have drawn its first customer in tion, the administrators agreed in principle 1999, when Bujumbura, Burundi-based to a sale. But when the Russian partnership City Connexion claimed to have placed an submitted a firm bid for only the Airbus order for two airplanes. A short time later, components business, it became apparent however, the government of Burundi seized that successful marriage would not come to the airline’s banking and gold-mining in- pass, as conflicts of interest within Russia’s terests, prompting its management to return bureaucracy added more obstacles to a 928s from Bavaria International Leasing in a sea of debt and attempts to attract to Europe post-haste. As if to complicate process rife with intrinsic impediments. and another commitment from CSA Czech another $40 million to complete certifica- matters further, the company that brokered Introduced at the 1998 Regional Airline Airlines for four 728s during last year’s tion go unfulfilled. Awarded to Moravan the contract–Switzerland’s Airline Part- Association Convention in Minneapolis, Paris Air Show, the program had drawn firm Aeroplanes subsidiary LZ Aeronautical In- ners–opted out of proposed deal for 30 air- Fairchild Dornier’s family of low-wing re- orders for 118 airplanes worth some $3.6 dustries in July 2001 by a Czech bank- planes that might have given Ayres gional jets began taking shape in March billion. But not long after Fairchild’s bank- ruptcy administrator, the sole L-610G enough deposit money to proceed with the 2001, when the company began building ruptcy announcement, its two largest cus- prototype remains in a hangar in Albany, airplane’s certification. the first three 728 fuselages at its produc- tomers–GECAS and Lufthansa CityLine– Ga., after the administrator and Moravan Four years later the former Let again tion facilities in Oberpfaffenhofen, Ger- canceled their orders, leaving the program failed to recover the airplane from receivers stands at the center of Czech bankruptcy many. Twelve months later Fairchild Dornier with virtually no customer base. of the bankrupt Ayres Corp. petitions, raising further doubt about the rolled out the first example during cere- Although last autumn LZ vice president future of the L-610G and the rest of the monies overshadowed by a cloud of uncer- Patrik Joachimczyk told AIN that the com- company’s programs. Brink and Frontier tainty, as former company chairman Charles INDONESIAN AEROSPACE pany would abandon the program if it had- Petroleum Services have both vowed to ag- Pieper reported a desperate state of finan- N-250–After the FAA in 1996 refused to n’t reached a funding deal with one of three gressively press their respective lawsuits cial affairs at the regional aircraft industry’s accept Indonesian Aerospace’s (formerly potential investors by the end of the year, and eventually take control of the Let as- third-largest manufacturer. IPTN) second prototype for flight testing LZ continues to cite interest from South sets. Brink said the L-610G could possibly While issuing a call for a new strategic because of poor documentation, the man- Korea as a potential lifeline for the founder- fit into his plans, while Matusik flatly re- partner to help finance the development of a ufacturer began anew and by 1998 had ing L-610G. Meanwhile, the parent com- jected the viability of the program. new long-range 728 variant called the 728- completed half of its 1,400-hour testing pany of Moravan Aeroplanes, Moravan 200, Pieper said the company continued to program. A second prototype, slated for Otrokovice, has fallen into bankruptcy, and TUPOLEV hemorrhage roughly $50 million per month, 1,000 hours of testing, had flown 200 hours. U.S. entrepreneur Randall Brink continues Tu-324–Seemingly rejuvenated by a fund- However, when the Inter- his quest to void the transfer of Let to ing commitment from Rosaviacosmos in Indonesian Aerospace national Monetary Fund Moravan. Brink, an aspiring airline chair- October 2001, the Tu-324 stood as Tupolev’s N-250 (IMF) forced the Indone- man and one of three bidders for Let’s answer to the estimated demand for be- sian government to with- assets after Albany-based Ayres Corp. lost tween 250 and 300 fifty-seat regional jets draw its support of the control of the company in spring 2001, from Russian/CIS airlines over the next 12 program, IAe had little claims the bankruptcy administrator acted years. The program, inspired by the im- choice but to adjust projec- improperly by awarding Let to Moravan mensely successful CRJ line by Canada’s tions for Indonesian certi- after she obstructed his attempts to bid by Bombardier, survived a decade of funding fication as well, from withholding critical contractual docu- shortages, design changes and political March 1999 to the fourth ments. He also asserts that because the roadblocks, and appeared to have gained quarter of 2000, and again Prague-based private bank CSOB had filed the support necessary to begin a serious indefinitely until it can re- a bankruptcy claim against Moravan campaign toward certification. But by the cruit a risk-sharing partner Otrokovice before the end of the Let ten- end of last year progress on the first Tu-324 forcing it to redirect funds from its other to contribute $90 million to complete the der process, Moravan Aeroplanes should prototype had come to a complete halt, after programs–namely the Envoy 7 business jet program. Most recent estimates from IAe not have legally qualified as a buyer. Moscow failed to appropriate the funds it and 95- to 110-seat 928–to the first flight of placed Indonesian certification in mid-2005. In February Canadian partners in LZ allocated for the project. the 728. More than a year later the first 728 When it flew for the first time in August filed criminal charges in the Czech Repub- Originally conceived as a business jet prototype still sat idle inside a company 1995, the 64-seat Allison AE2100C-pow- lic against LZ chairman Libor Soska for al- closely resembling the Bombardier Chal- hangar in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, col- ered turboprop featuring fly-by-wire flight leged misappropriation of their investment. lenger, the Tu-324 evolved into a 52-pas- lecting dust since insolvency administrators controls represented a source of prestige for Frontier Petroleum Services principles Don senger, 1,350-nm regional jet after market laid off the 1,800 workers assigned to the a country that never before developed and Jewitt and Milan Matusik claim they studies suggested a more immediate need program in May last year. produced an indigenous airplane. But amid bought 49 percent of the company’s stock for a commercial program. Still officially Severely undercapitalized during the the economic and political instability that for Kc205 million ($6.9 million), but when part of Tupolev’s plans, the Tu-324A busi- early phases of the aircraft’s development, struck the country during 1998, the interna- they demanded an accounting of their in- ness jet would feature a six-foot shorter the company appeared to secure the fund- tional community demanded government vestment, LZ personnel physically blocked fuselage and extra fuel tanks, yielding a ing it needed to proceed with its ambitious largesse to such enterprises as IAe be their entry into the plant for a board meet- range of 4,000 nm. project in April 2000, when New York in- stopped as a condition of the IMF’s $43 ing. Soska claims the money represents a Tupolev launched the program at the vestment firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice billion bailout plan. loan repayable in five years. 1995 Paris Air Show, soon after Mentimer teamed with Germany’s Allianz Capital to Today, the IAe plant sits idle, after the When Ayres Corp. chairman Fred Shaimiev, the president of the oil-rich buy Fairchild from former CEO Carl Al- company closed its doors to its entire work- Ayres negotiated with the Czech govern- republic of Tatarstan, arranged a funding bert. The proverbial well would run dry last force of 9,700 in July. The Bandung-based ment to buy 93 percent of the foundering scheme linked to revenues from oil sales. year, however, as 728 program delays, fi- company said the planned six-month shut- Let Kunovice in 1998, a tone of cautious Under the plan, Tatarstan’s Kazan Aircraft nancial penalties related to the cancellation down will stave off bankruptcy while its optimism tempered creeping suspicion Production Association (KAPO) would lo- of the 42-seat 428JET, delivery deferrals of board of directors formulates a rescue plan. over the U.S. company’s motives. Al- cate an assembly line at its plant in the cap- 32-seat 328JETs and the slumping econ- The Indonesian Bank and Restructuring though many of Let’s workers remained ital city of Kazan, while Kazan’s OAO omy drained the company of its remaining Agency is considering a plan to convert skeptical about Ayres and his plans for Motor Building Production Association capital resources. Today, an investor would some $200 million of the company’s out- Let, any chance for steady work in an (KMPO) would build the airplane’s ZMKB need another $400 million to complete cer- standing debts into equity, contingent on a economy struggling to adapt to a free- Progress 8,532-pound-thrust AI-22 turbo- tification of the 728, and perhaps $1 billion proposed government move to convert sub- market system seemed better than the fans. To demonstrate its support for the pro- more to bring the 928 to market. ordinated loans worth $145 million. likely alternative of unemployment. gram, the Russian government placed a Upon its introduction, the 728 estab- Two years later, most of Let’s 1,400 symbolic first order in February 1996. lished itself as the foundation on which workers found themselves out of work, That same year Tupolev developed a de- Fairchild Dornier would build its future LZ (LETECKE ZAVODY) after the commerce court in Brno declared tailed design proposal and in July 1998 when Germany’s Lufthansa Airlines placed AERONAUTICAL INDUSTRIES the company bankrupt. Saddled with a passed a mockup inspection. However, the a launch order for sixty 70- to 85-seat 728s L-610G–Beset by funding shortages, a se- mountain of debt incurred both before and fall of the Russian banking system in Au- in April 1999. Further anchored at the June ries of ownership changes and political sub- after the 1998 takeover and tormented by gust 1998 and subsequent pressure from the 2000 Berlin Air Show by a $1.4 billion firm terfuge since its designers first conceived threats of legal action from disgruntled World Bank effectively ended the practice contract for 50 of the new jets from GE the project in the mid-1980s, the L-610G customers, Ayres failed to deliver on his of using oil as a de-facto currency, leaving Capital Aviation Services (GECAS), a program remains grounded indefinitely, as promise to revitalize the half-century-old the Tu-324 underfunded and characterized launch order for four 90- to 105-passenger its third owner in as many years languishes manufacturer, leaving a pair of new aircraft by periods of fits and starts to this day. J