Paris Air Show

Citation

Ford, T. (2003), "Paris Air Show", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 75 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.2003.12775fac.001

Paris Air Show

Paris Air Show

Keywords: Conferences, Aerospace, Aircraft

Although still providing evidence of an industry under pressure, this year's Paris Air Show gave some cause for optimism with orders for large aircraft following others placed in the preceding months. Activity at the upper end of the so-called regional market was also notable although this sector is seen to be increasingly in competition with the major manufacturers. Boeing and Airbus continue their rivalry with a clearer picture emerging of the former company's idea that requirements for the future will be for direct routes served by medium sized aircraft. Airbus counter this, however, with the need for very large aircraft to help relieve the pressure on congested hubs resulting from inevitable increases in traffic.

These two philosophies were reinforced at the Show with details of many of the worldwide suppliers for the Airbus A380 programme and more information about the Boeing 7E7 project with indications of the advanced technology to be incorporated in this aircraft for entry into service in 2008. Interest was generated by orders from Emirates and Qatar, the former for 21 A380s, 18 A340-600s and two A340-500s as well as 26 Boeing 777-300ERs. Emirates has a total of 43 A380s on order (including two freighters), Qatar Airways placed an order for two A340-600s, 14 A330s and two A321 aircraft. The A340-600s for both airlines will be the new high gross weight (HGW) version. There were also a number of options placed.

The list of components and system suppliers and assembly sites underlines the extent of the A380 venture. Airbus UK has major responsibilities with the entire wing being assembled at Broughton. RAE Systems Aerostructures design and produce the inboard outer fixed leading edge package. An optimised weight rib design is also notable as well as development of the inner spar die forging and the use of the new 7449 AI Alloy on secondary structure. Saab Aerostructures develop and produce the fixed leading edge from inner engine installation to wing tip, some 31 m (100 ft) in length. Belairbus of Belgium together with industrial partners, supply the slat track system and droop noses which form part of the wing leading edge. CTRM of Malaysia is designing and producing the fixed leading edge lower panels and inboard outer fixed leading edge. All flap track beams for the aircraft as well as other components are being produced by EADS at Augsberg, Germany. FACC of Austria develop and manufacture the flap track fairings. GKN in the UK and USA supply major sub-assemblies in the wing and parts of the vertical tailplane. Hawker De Havilland of Australia provide the 2.4 m high wingtip fences. Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) supply the wing bottom panel. Stork Aerospace development will benefit the extensive (55m/aircraft) thermoplastic wing leading edges and also supply selected forward and aft fuselage panels using GLARE. The largest of these will measure 10×3.5 m.

The centre wing boxes are being supplied from Airbus' Nantes plant in France and are delivered to the St Nazaire plant for incorporation into the centre fuselage sections. Alenia Aeronautica of Italy is responsible for the design and production of a fully-fitted section of the central fuselage in three pieces, as well as related engineering work. FHI of Japan is the supplier for composite assembly structures for the vertical tailplane. JAMCO of Tokyo is producing the cross beams for the upper floor deck and the reinforcement profiles for the centre box of the vertical tail stabiliser which includes stiffeners and stringers. Gamesa Aeronautica of Spain provides large fuselage components. The major component assembly hall at Hamburg was completed this year. It will undertake structural assembly and equipping of the forward and rear fuselage sections, beginning in 2003.

Engines will be either Rolls-Royce Trent 900 or GE-Pratt and Whitney Engine Alliance 7200, the former powering the A380 on its first commercial flight in 2006. Certification of the Trent 900 is expected next year with first flight of the aircraft in 2005, the engine having already achieved certification thrust levels of 81,000lb. The GP 7200 will be certified to similar thrust levels in the middle of 2005.

Messier-Bugatti, Messier-Dowty, Michelin, Dunlop and Goodrich are concerned with the design and production of the nose and main landing gears and the operating systems. Many systems and flight controls, etc., suppliers on the aircraft include Hamilton Sundstrand who will supply the largest environmental control system ever built for a commercial aircraft. This company also provides many other components for the aircraft including the APU and the FADEC for the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 and the integral gearbox for the rival GP 7200. Thales Avionics supplies a number of systems and is in partnership with Diehl Avionic and Goodrich to supply others, Smiths Aerospace is designing and manufacturing a range of components and systems including landing gear actuation. Honeywell, Rockwell Collins, Intertechnique, Socata, Parker Aerospace, etc., are a few of the other many well known suppliers, which will be contributing to the final assembly of the A380 at Toulouse in 2005.

Boeing meanwhile is pursuing several initiatives in keeping with its wider horizons. The 7E7 project is intended to embody efficiency solutions not previously experienced; the engines will use about 20 per cent less fuel per passenger than other comparable aircraft and will be far more environmentally friendly. Lightweight technology, operational efficiency enhancement and overall electronic connectivity will add to the aircraft's overall capabilities.

Another area being developed is Connexion by Boeing which was marked early this year by the start of a 3 month trial of the system by Lufthansa on its flights from Frankfurt to Washington. The successful completion of the trial means that the airline will become the first carrier worldwide to introduce broadband internet on board its entire long-haul fleet of Boeing 747-400 and Airbus A330 and A340 aircraft. Successive equipping of the fleet will start from the beginning of next year. As was the case during the trials, Lufthansa will also offer an exclusive free portal during normal operations. It will provide comprehensive airline information as well as news, weather, stock market and destination region data. The portal will be permanently updated by satellite during the flight. The first 747-400 has already been equipped and certified by the European JAA.

A subject of recent orders, the Boeing 777-300ER is undergoing the flight test programme prior to certification early next year. The 777-300ER has embarked on a 1,600 h flight-test and 1,000 h ground test with first delivery scheduled for April 2004 to ILFC and its customer Air France. This aircraft extends the 777-300 range to 7,420 nautical miles or is able to carry an additional 55,000 lb of cargo.

An order for 100 Embraer 190 aircraft was placed just before the Show by Jet Blue of the USA with options on another 100. This airline becomes the launch customer for the 190 which will accommodate 98-106 passengers and will be certified and delivered in the third quarter of 2005. It is powered by two General Electric Cf34-I0E engines and will be available earlier than planned. Certification of the larger Embraer 195 is scheduled for 2006. These two types of aircraft are the largest in the 170, 175, 190, and 195 family from this manufacturer. The first model, the 170, has completed its flight and certification programme and will be delivered in 2003 to its first customer Alitalia.

Powerplants

General Electric has a wide range of engines under development, headed by the GE-P&W Alliance GP7200 for the Airbus A380. Several key components are undergoing tests leading to those of the first full engine in early 2004. These include a 108 in. diameter development fan to evaluate performance, noise, operability and aeromechanics, leading to the final production swept fan of 116in. diameter. Also, high pressure rig testing of the low emission single annular combustor is being undertaken for the evaluation of emissions, component temperatures and combustion pattern factors. The compressor core will enable performance enhancements to be made following further investigation and further work is being carried out on the six-stage low pressure turbine. The year 2004 will be significant for the GP7200 with the first full engine test, the beginning of engine certification and the first flights of the engine on the 747 Flying Testbed. The GE90-11 SB turbofan of 115,000 lb thrust has completed its certification testing and is powering the Boeing 777-300ER on the flight test programme, with FAA and JAA certification also expected in 2004. The range of CF34 engines used on Embraer and Bombardier aircraft continues to grow with the CF34-10 of 18,500 lb thrust for the large Embraer 190 orders placed recently. It is scheduled to enter service next year.

On the military side, the GE- Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team during 2003 completed analytical work to confirm the engine's range and thrust parameters in preparation for initial full-engine tests runs for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) programme in 2004. Combustor rig tests have already confirmed the efficiency and durability demanded for JSF design requirements. Engines will be tested for all JSF variants during Phase III. These are short takeoff vertical landing (STOVL) for the US Marine Corps and UK Royal Navy, conventional takeoff/landing (CTOL) for the USD Air Force, and the Carrier Variant for the US Navy.

Rolls-Royce high-thrust tests on the Trent 900 engine for the A380 reached 88,000 lb thrust this year, some 25 per cent more than the level required for entry into service in 2006. After being passed to test earlier in 2003, the engine initially completed low-power runs to prove basic design feature such as air and oil systems. Rig tests had previously been used for work on aspects including compressor, combustion and engine management (FADEC) systems. The Trent 900 is the first Rolls-Royce engine to incorporate scimitar-shaped swept fan blades, with blade numbers reduced by two to a total of 24, compared with previous Trents. The new technology delivers weight savings, better bird-strike protection and lower noise. Certification of this engine is scheduled for October 2004 and will fly on the first A380 services in 2006. The 116 in. diameter fan for this engine was a feature of the Show and the company also showed the Trent 500 now in service on the Airbus A340600 of several airlines. Considerable development is forecast for the Trent with technologies available for incorporation within the next few years.

Widespread capabilities

One of the large international bodies with a showing at the Paris Show was Raytheon whose interests include Government and Defence, Missile Systems, Space and Airborne Systems, Security, Technical Services, Raytheon Aircraft and other areas of worldwide significance. Present was the Hawker 800XP to be joined in 2004 by the Hawker Horizon, a mid-sized business jet which will feature a composite fuselage and fully integrated Honeywell Primus Epic avionics. In addition, during this years, the Hawker 400X P light jet joined the product line. The Hawker 800 XP features Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 avionics and offers a large cabin with typical seating layouts for six to ten passengers in a variety of configurations. The Hawker Horizon offers a IFR range of 3,100 n miles at Mach 0.82 and a maximum range of 3,400 m n miles which provides trans-Atlantic capability. Incidentally, the Hawker 800 XP is being offered as the Raytheon Aircraft entry for the US Navy Undergraduate Military Flying Officer Training System (UMFOTS) competition. The company is well versed in the training scene, since the T-6a trainer has proved its versatility in various parts of the world. The aircraft is part of the Joint Primary Aircraft Training Scheme (JPATS) for the US and NATO forces.

The Space and Airborne Systems division of the company is focusing on development and production of sensing and other systems for unmanned aircraft including Predator and Global Hawk and has recently completed a new active electronically scanned array radar for the US Navy's F/A-18E/F aircraft which is beginning flight tests. In another area, Raytheon's Air Traffic Management Systems integrate communication, navigation, surveillance and air traffic management for civilian and military applications. These include the Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS) which began deployment in the USA in 2002.

Lockheed Martin is another large organisation that participated and whose activities are organised into four broad business areas; Aeronautics, Space Systems, Systems Integration, and Technology Services. The Aeronautics company supplies many military forces with systems for combat, special mission/reconnaissance, and air mobility aircraft. An Advanced Development Programmes (ADP) group, also known as the "Skunk Works", has principal responsibility for R&D, new products and definition of upgrades to existing products. Current aircraft programmes include the F/A22 raptor, F-16, F-35 JSF, F-117 Stealth Fighter, C-130J Hercules, C-5 strategic airlifter, P-3 Orion, S-3 Viking, and U-2. The company is a major participant in the Japan F-2 programme, Korea T-50 trainer, and Italian C27J.

The Space Systems company builds a wide range of launch vehicles with proved reliability and helps to manage NASA's fleet. It also collects data every day via telecommunications and remote sensing spacecraft. Also, on the ground, Space systems is a world leader in the collection, processing and analysis of the enormous amounts of data transmitted to earth by remote sensing spacecraft.

Avionics and systems

Thales Avionics together with Diehl Avionik Systeme have been delivering development sets of A380 avionics for some months. Early this year the first complete control and display system (CDS) arrived at Airbus in Toulouse and was followed by delivery of the first integrated modular avionics (IMA) modules. These modular processing units are the core of the new avionics suite and can be shared by several different system applications. Also delivered together with Aerolec, was the variable frequency electrical power generation system. The eight liquid crystal display (LCD) screens on the flight deck measure 15×20 cm and along with the point and click graphical user interface represent a major step forward. The display units themselves incorporate graphics that can directly receive standardised, predefined information from the computers via the AFDX digital databus. Thus, the ARINC 661 standard developed by the company makes the functions displayed self-determining from the display system.

Also an initial application is the operating system delivered, which will be common to all IMA modules; this will be the first use in an open architecture and is one of the keys to the IMA owing to interfaces with the application software in the new ARINC 653 standard. It enables several functions to share the same modules while still maintaining their independence.

Another Thales Avionics system on the A380 is the digital radio altimeter which is a dual premier. It is the first instrument of its type to integrate a digital signal processor and the first commercial aircraft application (it will subsequently also be fitted to the A340). Diehl Avionik will supply the first commercial aircraft application of a centralised doors and slides management system.

Overall, Thales Avionic systems on board the A380, in addition to the IMA and CDS components and doors and slides management and radio altimeter, include the flight control unit, slat flap control computer, standby navigation system, and head up display. Hardware control units and software development for the braking and steering control system are also produced as subcontractor to Messier-Bugatti.

Smiths Aerospace has a wide variety of applications for its products. Apart from the production of A380 airframe components, the company supplies from both its UK and USA facilities, the landing gear extension and retraction system, air generation system actuators, wing flap and slat actuation, various fabricated assemblies and the video switching multiplexer.

Smiths Aerospace and Thales Avionics have developed a flight management (FM) system that introduces a new LCD multipurpose control display unit (MCDU) and incorporates the largest navigation database capacity available on any Airbus aircraft (5 MB). It also includes superior flight planning flexibility (multi revision temporary flight plan, undo function and other features) and upgraded display functionality. Several airlines are equipping their fleets of A320 aircraft. Smiths has also been selected as a member of the Boeing 7E7 Systems Technology Team and is supporting six major electronics and actuation systems for the project. The company has also delivered the first updated electrical load management systems (ELMS) for the Boeing 777-300LR and these are on the aircraft undertaking the flight test programme.

On the military side, the company has completed full environmental and performance qualification testing on the new 30/40 kVA constant frequency generator (CFG) system for the MV-22 Osprey. This completion includes laboratory testing to the most rigorous and latest US Navy carrier- based aviation requirements. Production of the system is starting during 2003 at the Smiths facility at Dayton, Ohio, with deliveries beginning next year. Smiths will also supply the standby flight display system and additional weapons control for the F-35 JSF, delivery of which system will commence in 2004 utilising the company's plants in the UK and USA. Also, the AH-64D Apache helicopter has been the subject of several contracts, including that for Modular Mission Support for the Egyptian Air Force and the advanced electrical power management system (AEPMS) for the AH-64Ds of the Japanese Ground Self Defence Force.

Mention has been made of the Messier-Dowty contribution to the A380 programme which includes the nose landing gear. The company is responsible for the design, development, manufacture and support of this structure which at 5.5m tall when fully extended is the largest gear ever to be supplied by Messier-Dowty. Many other gears for both commercial and military aircraft are supplied including those for the Airbus A330/A340, Dassault Rafale, Boeing F/A-18 E/F, Eurofighter Typhoon, and Bombardier Global Express.

Messier-Bugatti is a systems integrator and supplies wheels and brakes, brake/landing control systems, monitoring systems, landing gear control systems and electric passenger seat systems. Applications for wheels and brakes include Airbus from A300 to A340-500/6500, Boeing 767-200/300, C-17 Globemaster, 777200ER/300ER, Dassault business jets and fighters and all European helicopters. Other systems are in use worldwide and the company has expertise in complex hydraulics of all kinds including thrust reversers, uplocks, self-regulating pumps, and miniature pumps.

Miscellaneous

QinetiQ of Farnborough showed its breadth of scientific expertise and aerospace technologies with examples of its research into, for example, aero-engine noise research which is being conducted in conjunction with Rolls-Royce and in which advanced mitigation techniques are being developed. Also, QinetiQ has produced a means which has been patented for continuous condition monitoring known as integrated engine management (IEM). In addition, a world-first in heat monitoring technology has been developed that will help industrial gas turbine manufacturers in their search for an effective cooling system to keep blades at an optimum temperature while minimising losses in engine performance.

Other areas of study and development include a contract from the European Space Agency (ESA) to improve the performance of Ion Optic Systems in gridded ion engines, that is, advanced engines that are ideal for deep space exploration due to their exceptional low fuel consumption. Operations have also been commenced in the new ion propulsion chamber at Farnborough which is the largest of its kind in Europe. Two large thrusters can be simultaneously fired, in total vacuum at full power. The wide aspects of research also include a computer model to detect fatigue in aircrew, a key role in the development of advanced, affordable lighter and more capable aerospace materials for the future, and many other projects.

Terry Ford