Paul Lewis/BANDUNG
IPTN SAYS that it has been given approval by Indonesian President Suharto to begin design of its proposed 100-seat N-2130 regional twinjet, further fuelling IPTN's ambitions for a family of regional aircraft.
Suharto has warned of the risks that, "other countries may pass us by". The N-2130 will serve as a follow-on programme to the N-250 turboprop, which had its first flight at IPTN's Bandung plant on 10 August. It will also borrow the turboprop's fly-by-wire flight control technology.
Preliminary IPTN planning calls for design of the regional jet to be frozen by March 2000, with detailed design and parts manufacturing to follow afterwards. Assembly of the first N-2130 would begin in early 2003, with the aircraft flying in the first quarter of 2004, and certification due by mid-2006.
There will be provision for both stretch 130-seat and shortened 80-seat versions of the aircraft, "depending on the market", says IPTN chairman Dr Bacharuddin Habibie. Maximum take-off weights would range from 43,500kg up to 55,800kg. The baseline aircraft will be powered by twin wing-mounted 82kN (18,400lb)-thrust class turbofans with a range of between 2,870-3,425km (1,550-1,850nm).
Unlike previous IPTN programmes, the N-2310 will not be supported by Government funding ,beyond the $1.6 billion already committed to the company. Habibie plans instead to issue public shares and bonds to raise the estimated $2 billion needed to develop the aircraft.
"This is a national programme, but not a prestige programme," stresses Habibie. "It is a calculated economic programme, based on economic demand." IPTN is forecasting demand for 2,757 passenger aircraft, in the 80- to 130-seat class over the next 20 years.
As a further move towards creating a regional-aircraft family, IPTN has also resurrected plans to produce a 50-seat version of the N-250. Habibie says that the 50-seater will enter service in mid-1998.
The N-250 was originally launched in 1989 as a 50-seat programme, but four years later IPTN switched to the stretched N-250-100, saying that this market provided greater demand. Stretching the fuselage also helped to overcome the problem of the aircraft's 10-20% excess design weight.
The first N-250 prototype (PA1), the aircraft flown at Bandung, was nevertheless completed to the original 50-seat specification since the programme was so far advanced. When the 50-seater goes into production, it will incorporate the design modifications already included on the 70-seat prototypes, such as a lower wing box and refined structural tail cross-section.
The first stretched prototype (PA2), is scheduled to be flown in May, 1996. IPTN hopes to receive US Federal Aviation Administration type-certification for the N-250-100by the end of 1997, ready for deliveries to being in early 1998.
Source: Flight International
