PRODUCTION GUY NORRIS / SEATTLE
Aerodynamic test phase set to start next May as manufacturer prepares to embark on extensive 737 modifications.
Boeing engineers have powered up the basic electrical system in the first 737 Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft for Australia as part of preparations for the start of flight tests in May 2004, and eventual delivery of the first two aircraft in November 2006.
The first aircraft is being prepared for the start of a 27-week aerodynamic test phase in May 2004. Radar flight tests will be conducted under a development, test and evaluation programme beginning in May 2005, using the second aircraft, while the first aircraft undergoes basic aerodynamic, structural and performance tests as part of the certification programme.
The extensive modifications to the baseline airframe, based on the hybrid 737-700 fuselage and -800 wing combination of the Boeing Business Jet (BBJ), are being developed under a supplemental type certification.
After being fitted with the BBJ-style auxiliary fuel tank system, the 737 airframe is 'literally gutted from the cockpit displays all the way back to the rear pressure bulkhead', says Boeing. Modifications include a completely new upper-lobe Section 46, with fittings to mate the Mesa radar; a new Section 41 with a cut-out for the air-to-air refuelling receptacle; and two large ventral fins to counterbalance the antenna. The aircraft is also modified to carry chaff and flare dispensers, and around 60 antenna and sensor apertures. The CFM56-7B engine nacelle bulges with a double-power Hamilton Standard 180kVa integrated-drive generator.
The modifications, together with the 2,860kg (6,290lb) weight of the 10.7m (35ft)-long Mesa radar, will take the eventual operating empty weight of the Wedgetail to around 50,210kg, as against 37,230kg for the standard BBJ without interior.
Australia's first four aircraft will arrive in 2006-7. The first of four Turkish aircraft will arrive in 2007.
Source: Flight International
