Twinjet to be first all-new Boeing widebody with R-R power
Rolls-Royce's Trent 1000 will be the lead engine on the Boeing 7E7 following its selection by All Nippon Airways (ANA) for the airline's fleet of 50 aircraft on order for entry into service from 2008.
The pivotal decision makes the 7E7 the first all-new Boeing widebody to be launched into service with a Rolls-Royce engine. Not counting the 777-300 stretch, which was led by the Trent 800, it marks only the second time a new Boeing airliner has been launched with a powerplant from the UK manufacturer, the first being the 757 - the last example of which is due for roll-out this month.
R-R defeated General Electric's GEnx proposal to win ANA.
The selection comes as Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) joins Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) as a risk- and revenue-sharing partner in the Trent 1000. KHI will assemble and supply the intermediate pressure (IP) compressor module with an 8.5% programme share. MHI has 7%, which involves the combustor and low-pressure (LP) turbine. Negotiations on the remaining partnerships are "well advanced".
Neither R-R nor GE have yet been fully briefed by ANA on the reasons for the engine selection, although sources say the final choice "came down to the money".
Trent 1000 chief engineer Andy Geer says the Trent 1000 will be built as a single bill of material across all three versions. It will be certificated at around 70,000lb thrust (312kN) for the stretched 7E7-9, but will be derated to 63,000lb and 64,000lb thrust on the initial 7E7-3 and -8 variants, respectively. ANA is scheduled to take 20 -8s and 30 domestic Japanese short-range -3 versions, with the initial -8s due for delivery in 2008.
The final design of the Trent 1000, with a 10:1 bypass ratio and 50:1 total overall compression ratio, is due to be frozen by February 2005, with first engine to test scheduled for mid-February 2006. The basic test, development and certification effort will involve seven sea-level engines and a flight test Trent 1000.
Rig tests are already under way, a key example being tests on an IP coupling device, which will be used to take up to 700hp (520kW) power off the IP shaft for the 7E7's "more-electric" systems. By taking power off the IP rather than the more conventional HP shaft, R-R believes the Trent 1000 design will be more efficiently matched and, in the case of the -3 operational cycle, should reduce comparative fuel burn by up to 6%. Fuel savings over the longer range legs of the typical -8 missions will be around 1%, "which is still positive" says Geer.
GUY NORRIS / LOS ANGELES
Source: Flight International
