Last week's roll-out of the latest and most capable version of the twinjet raises stakes in the battle for distance
Few new Boeing airliners have been rolled out with so much depending on their success. Resplendent in the company's newly adopted "Dreamliner" house colours, the 777-200LR "Worldliner" was unveiled at Everett on 15 February in front of over 5,000 people, amid hopes that it will help turn the marketing tide in Boeing's favour.
The 777-200LR, which is due to fly for the first time before mid-March, joins the recently delivered -300ER in Boeing's counter-attack against the Airbus A340-500/600 for the long-range market. Its arrival completes the basic five-member family plan for the twinjet hatched by Boeing as long ago as December 1988, but more importantly it becomes the "ultimate fragmenter" - a point-to-point airliner underpinning the company's product strategy.
The -200LR is the last part of the "Z-chart" plan that was adopted in late 1988 at the start of Boeing's product development plan for what was then the 767-X. Although the range and payload of the -200LR far exceed that originally considered, its greater capabilities come in the nick of time for Boeing's marketing needs. The "fragmenting" phenomenon long predicted by Boeing has become a reality, but it has been Airbus that has been able to reap the best of the harvest to date with its long-range A340-500/600 models. Boeing hopes that the slow-selling -200LR, designed for this market, will begin to match the success of the larger -300ER now that flight tests are about to begin.
The flight-test effort will include two fully instrumented aircraft that will later be refurbished before delivery to launch customer Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). The initial test airframe, WD001, is due to fly in the second week of March and will undertake the bulk of the test effort, which is expected to amass around 500 flight hours.
Following initial flutter and airworthiness tests, WD001 will be used for stability and control work, and for crucial aerodynamic performance assessments from April through to June. The tests include evaluation of a potential aerodynamic improvement involving the replacement of 16 inboard vortex generators (VG) with smaller, 737-sized VGs, and the addition of up to seven standard VGs on the outboard wing surface towards the tip.
Boeing hopes the tests could result in an additional 0.5% fuel saving, and will be combined in a package of engine and airframe improvements already planned for the stretched 777-300ER stablemate. If successful, the VG modification will also be retrofitted on the -300ER. Boeing expects the -200LR will be capable of ranges up to 17,450km (9,420nm) with a full payload of 301 passengers. However, this maximum range will require the use of optional fuel tanks that will occupy space in the bellyhold. Boeing says that "even without the optional fuel tanks, the 777-200LR can fly as far as the competition, the A340-500".
A second test aircraft, WD002, will join the test programme in May and will assist with airworthiness and systems tests before completing flight tests along with WD001 in early September. Refurbishment of WD002, which will be provisioned with an interior and less instrumentation than WD001, is expected to take less time and means this will be the first aircraft to be handed over to PIA following certification in January 2006.
Boeing is hopeful that flight tests will soon encourage further sales of the -200LR, which has so far only secured five firm orders, three from EVA of Taiwan, which is due to take its aircraft in 2006. Overall, Boeing predicts possible sales of 300 aircraft in the -200LR category over the next 20 years, despite the early success of the A340-500.
A further 200 sales are also predicted for the 777 Freighter, a direct derivative of the -200LR. Boeing declines to comment on reports that Air France is considering the 777F as a replacement for its eight remaining 747-200Fs. Lars Andersen, 777 derivatives programme manager, says: "We're hopeful over the next few months we will be signing more customers."
Boeing is ramping up design work on the 777F, which was announced in November 2004. "This week we are starting design activity, and going into more detail on the configuration. We will spend time on the design issues this year to enable the start of firm configuration next year," says Andersen. First 777F deliveries are set for the fourth quarter in 2008.
GUY NORRIS / SEATTLE
Source: Flight International
