Here’s a fairly techincal question….
Back in the 60’s we had 100 seat jets, the early short-body DC-9s & 737s.
As they grew, airlines dropped short range routes and regional airlines filled the void.
Now regional carriers are buying jets, some of them quite large.
How does a large regional jet differ from a early small jet.
I know the new planes don’t require 3 person flight crews and their engines are more efficient, but have a hunch there’s more to it than that.
By: Whiskey Delta - 2nd July 2004 at 04:27
It seems that aviation has gone full circle. It started with the 100 seat “RJ’s” like the DC-9-10 and 737-100/200 as John stated. Now we have manufacturer’s breaking new ground (?) with the EMB-170/190, CRJ-900 and the recent announcement by Bombardier of a 100 seat aircraft.
As for the differences, I don’t think it matters how many seats they have. Basically John, your asking what’s different between the original jet entries and those that we see now. The technology of those DC-9-10’s were the same as the DC-8’s of the era. The same tech found in the EMB-170/190 can be found in the new Boeings and Airbus’s.
– Fly-by wire
– Glass cockpits
– FMS/GPS navigation
– Numerous automatic/manual safety features (ie automatic thrust increase during an engine failure)
– Less polutants and all around quiter inside and out.
Those are just a few that I could think of off the top of my head.
By: Bhoy - 1st July 2004 at 17:29
It’s been said that the F100 was ten years ahead of it’s time, I don’t think the F28 is too big to be classed as an RJ… look at the 146-300/ARJ100, the CRJ700 or the Embraer 170/190’s.
By: SOFTLAD - 1st July 2004 at 17:13
I would say that it was too big to qualify as a RJ but what does everyone else think ?
By: seahawk - 1st July 2004 at 17:07
would the Fokker F-28 not qualify as an early generation RJ ??
By: Jeanske_SN - 1st July 2004 at 17:02
Did some searches, and the mentioned RJ is the VFW 614. It had a range of 1500-2000 km and carried 40-50 passengers. You can compare it with the ERJ145 or CRJ200, which consume half the amount of this jets.
Efficiency is needed to make RJ’s profitable. With the current fuel prices, efficiency became even more important.
Hope this helps.
By: Jeanske_SN - 1st July 2004 at 16:58
Actually, RJ’s only started to show up in the beginning of the 90’s. There was a strange RJ around 1975 or so, don’t know much about it. It was a flop. The airlines didn’t understood there was a market for it.
Also, the current RJ’s are specialised in short distances.
I can’t explain my ideas about it clearly in English. Sorry
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July 1, 2004 at 4:54 pm