Omega Air has signed an agreement with Pratt & Whitney about the re-engineing of its Boeing 707-320 fleet with P&W JT8D-200 engines. The Omega leasing company is the major partner in the US-based consortium "7Q7", which plans to certificate the JT8D-powered version in 1998.
Omega, based in Dublin, Ireland, has a portfolio of some 25 707-320 freighters which are on lease to various cargo operators worldwide. According to Ulick McEvaddy, a director of Omega and a vice-president in 7Q7, the company plans to retrofit its entire 707 fleet over the next ten years and is also in discussion with several other 707 operators. "We are offering the conversion for a turnkey sticker-price of around $14-15 million per aircraft," he says.
"We are talking to interested parties, particularly executive operators," claims McEvaddy, adding that the company will also be bidding to re-engine military 707s such as tankers, AWACS/JSTARS [Airborne Warning and Control System/Joint Surveillance and Target Attack Radar System] and RC-135s.
Since 1992, Omega has been evaluating various engines to replace the 707-320's noisy and inefficient 80kN (18,000lb)-thrust P&W JT3D engines, with candidates including the CFM International CFM56, BMW Rolls-Royce BR715 and the JT8D-200. The latter engine, which powers the McDonnell Douglas MD-80, was chosen as it offered the best combination of cost, performance and availability.
The retrofit will use the JT8D-217C, rated at nearly 85kN, which offers a 45kg weight saving per engine compared to the existing JT3D. Omega is also anticipating a 20% reduction in fuel consumption and Stage 3 noise compliance with a considerable margin at the 707's maximum take-off weight of 152,500kg. The modified 707 should offer up to 30% more range, and be some 45% faster in the climb to cruise altitude.
San Antonio-based Swearingen Aircraft is a partner in the 7Q7, and is tasked with the programme's engineering and design. Swearingen's chairman, Ed Swearingen, is president of the 7Q7 consortium.
Omega says that it is close to an agreement with Rohr to supply the engine's nacelle, inlet duct and thrust reverser.
The existing JT3D pylon will not require replacement, but it will need modification to accommodate the new engine.
The first converted 707 is scheduled to be flown in November, with the flight-test programme to be undertaken by Tracor at its Mojave plant. While Swearingen will carry out the first 707 retrofit at its Texas plant, Tracor will undertake all subsequent conversions in Mojave. McEvaddy says that Marshall Aerospace could carry out European JSTARS re-engineing, and he has held preliminary discussions with the Cambridge, UK, -based maintenance company.
McEvaddy expects flight testing to be completed by March 1998. "We are budgeting a further five to six months for US Federal Aviation Administration certification," he says. "The programme will require an investment of $35-37 million up until the end of the certification stage," he adds.
Source: Flight International
