Guy Norris/SEATTLE
DETAILED PLANNING for the design of the stretched Boeing 777-300 is to be completed by mid-February 1996. Half of the design will be released to manufacturing by September, and major assembly is due to begin in late March 1997.
Boeing is keeping the stretch programme as basic as possible, to keep development costs low and achieve a tight programme timetable. If the protracted strike, now entering its third month, is settled soon Boeing has a first flight pencilled in for the last week of October 1997, with first delivery to Cathay Pacific Airways scheduled for late May 1998.
"This is a very focused effort. The idea is to keep it simple, and its job is nothing but to fly more people further," says 777-300 programme manager, Jeff Peace.
An overriding objective of the -300 programme is to keep the aircraft affordable. "We're going to take our current practices and make a 30% reduction in development costs from the current 777," says Peace. As a result, the development time scale is reduced from 42 months to 32 months from firm configuration to delivery, and only around 15% of the parts will be unique. Production cycle time will be shortened by 25%.
Newly unveiled design details of the aircraft, which at 73.8m will be more than 3m longer than Boeing's 747, show that ground-manoeuvring cameras will be fitted as standard. "The wheelbase of the aircraft has grown to the extent that the turning radius is slightly more than a 747," says Peace.
"To help the flight crews see where the wheels are related to the pavement, we've added ground-manoeuvre cameras on the horizontal stabilisers which look forward to the main gear," he adds. Another camera is fitted to the wing/body fairing and looks forward to view the nose gear. "In our experiences with the 747, we've found that crews pick up visual cues to help them manoeuvre, so the combination of standard cues and the cameras will work," says Peace, who stresses that the camera system, although fitted as a basic system, will not be a "required system".
Other changes to the longer 777, include the addition of a tail skid, similar to that used on the 767-300 and a revised centre-fuselage section with a modified skin contour to include a Type A door. "We have to add a fifth door to each side to bring the exit limit to nearly 550 passengers," says Peace.
Despite the increase in total capacity to beyond 500, most airlines are expected to use the -300 as a 747 replacement and will select a tri-class seating arrangement with capacity for between 368 and 394 passengers.
Source: Flight International
