7E7 order announcement tomorrow?

If it’s as good as Boeing says…and its a more efficient 767 replacement, I’m sure U.S. carriers will buy them.
But with many airlanes in red ink, I can understand why they haven’t plunked down the cash…yet.
You can bet Boeing will give United and American the benefits & status of launch customers when they place their orders.

I just hope they’ll hurry and replace those 762 and 763s with no real comfort (I would really like AA and Delta to have in seat videos on their planes out of BRU… Those large projectors are such a pain.. )

Sandys done one before….. Search for it….

cant imagine the aircraft wearing Aer Lingus livery. Could someone do one as it would look lovely maybe

I agree with you, John.

Mind you, who’s to say both of the airlines you mentioned will survive long enough to place an order? At least one of them appears to be in very dire difficulties indeed.

I wonder how long it will be before a US airline orders the 7E7?

If it’s as good as Boeing says…and its a more efficient 767 replacement, I’m sure U.S. carriers will buy them.
But with many airlanes in red ink, I can understand why they haven’t plunked down the cash…yet.
You can bet Boeing will give United and American the benefits & status of launch customers when they place their orders.

I wonder how long it will be before a US airline orders the 7E7?

Here is an article on the GE engine for the Dreamliner.

Much of the buzz around General Electric’s exhibit at this week’s Farnborough International Air Show outside London will be over an engine that doesn’t exist.

The GEnx, for GE Next Generation, is one of two new engines Boeing Co. has picked to power its planned 7E7 Dreamliner. It now resides largely in computer codes and digital designs at GE Transportation’s headquarters in Evendale.

The GEnx, which borrows heavily from technology GE has developed for decades, won’t actually be fired up for its first test until March 2006.

It isn’t expected to enter service until 2008.

But Boeing’s choice in April of the GEnx as one of two engines for the Dreamliner, was “enormous,” said GE Transportation president Dave Calhoun.

Boeing’s decision also had a direct affect on GEAE’s employees.

GE chairman Jeff Immelt told shareholders in April that GEnx eventually could generate $60 billion in revenue for the company.

GEAE, which has struggled since the Sept. 11 attacks crippled the nation’s airline industry, has about 250 engineers working on the engine now and expects to hire 160 engineers at Evendale in part to develop GEnx.

The Dreamliner, conceived as the 21st-century successor to the widebody 767 and 757 jets, will have a fuselage made of lightweight composite materials to reduce weight. As a result, Boeing says, the liner will be 20 percent more fuel efficient than the 767.

Boeing envisions building up to 3,000 twin-engine 7E7s during the next 20 years. Each will have 200-250 seats and fly such routes as Cincinnati to Tokyo.

After months of evaluation, Boeing picked the GEnx and a variant of Rolls Royce’s Trent engine to power the 7E7. The loser in the competition was Pratt & Whitney, which proposed an entirely new engine design. Buyers of the 7E7 can choose the engine to equip their aircraft, so additional competition for GE and Rolls Royce lies ahead.

So far, four airlines have announced firm plans to buy the 7E7, but Boeing says more than two dozen have put down deposits on the jets and some may announce formal orders at Farnborough.

A long wait

GE and global partners including Snecma Moteurs in France, IHI in Japan and FiatAvio in Italy are investing billions of dollars to make the GENX a reality. The payoff could be huge.

Forecast International, the Newtown, Conn., aerospace analyst, estimates the engine market for the 7E7 will be worth more than $40 billion over the next 25 years.

Calhoun cautioned that GE and its partners must wait patiently for the return on their investment. Aerospace is a long-cycle business, requiring huge outlays up front that sometimes aren’t returned in profits for decades.

“If things go as we hope, we’ll collect our first dollar on this multibillion dollar investment about 24 years from now. That’s how this business works,” Calhoun said last week before leaving for Farnborough. The Farnborough show, which opens Monday and runs through July 25, is a major gathering place for the world’s manufacturers of aircraft and their components, as well as buyers eager for an up-close view of the latest and greatest in aerospace gear.

But beyond the financial implications, GE needed its engines to be on the 7E7 simply to maintain its position in the market, he said.

The CF6 family of engines, which the GEnx is designed to replace, has been the backbone of GE’s commercial business for more than three decades.

The family, introduced in 1971, has given GE the lion’s share of the engine market for jets such as the Boeing 767, and the Airbus A300 and A330s, Calhoun said.

Without the GEnx to power the Dreamliners and other future wide-body aircraft, “that would have been a huge hit on the business,” he said. “We had to win.”

Composite blades

British-based Rolls and GE are using different approaches to power the 7E7.

Rolls’ variant of its Trent engine is called the Trent 1000. It will use hollow titanium fan blades and three separate shafts for the engine’s high, medium and low-pressure turbines, which Rolls says will mean less engine wear.

The GEnx incorporates technology that GE is using on a commercial engine for the first time.

Like the GE90 before it, the GEnx will use fan blades made of lighter-weight composites rather than metal.

GE is the only major commercial engine builder to use composite fan blades rather than titanium, and they’ve been an unqualified success, says Thomas Brisken, GEnx general manager at Evendale.

Only two composite blades have failed in eight years of operation over more than 4.5 million hours of flight, he said.

To save weight and thus improve fuel efficiency on the GEnx, GE will also use composites in the case surrounding the engine fan.

“That will take 400 pounds out of the case structure. That’s a really big step forward for us,” said Brisken.

GE has used composite fan cases on military engines, but the GEnx will be the first commercial engine with one.

High bypass ratio

Brisken, a 1967 Moeller High School graduate who has worked at GE for 33 years, says engine efficiencies are expected to produce about three-quarters of the 20 percent improvement in fuel efficiency Boeing is seeking.

Almost half of the GEnx improvement will come from using the highest-bypass ratio GE has ever employed in a commercial engine.

Modern turbofan engines are high-bypass, meaning most of the air passing through the fan goes around the compressor and combustor rather than through them to generate thrust. The GEnx will have a 9.5 bypass ratio, meaning about 9.5 times the amount of air will pass around the engine than through it.

The higher bypass ratio and higher overall engine pressure ratio will produce about 40 percent of the fuel efficiency improvements, Brisken says.

“The other 60 percent comes from taking each component to a better efficiency level,” he said. “Most of it comes through better computer codes we have today in analyzing it.”

To validate those digital designs, GE is undertaking the most extensive component-testing program for a new engine in its history.

This year, GE is running 13 separate component rig tests to validate various design features for the new engine.

One example: the number of fan blades.

In the past, the company has used 22 fan blades in an engine. But Brisken said: “Our computational codes indicate 18 blades is more efficient.”

So GE is running rig tests at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland on fans using 22, 20 and 18 blades to verify the most efficient design, he said.

Final design close

The culmination of the engine component testing will come in January, when GE and its partners set the final design for the engine.

That will trigger a flurry of activity as the project is turned over to design engineers for final drawings and manufacturing and sourcing managers begin ordering components for the seven engines in the engine certification program.

The GEnx program now employs about 250 engineers, but that number will rise to more than 400 early next year as the program moves toward running the first engine in 2006, Brisken said.

GE expects to complete engine certification tests in July 2007.

Assembly of the finished engines will be at GE’s plant in Raleigh-Durham, N.C.

But the final design won’t end GE’s testing of the GEnx.

Beyond Federal Aviation Administration certification, GE plans to run two of the test engines the equivalent of three years of operation to further verify the technology.

By doing that, Brisken said, GE can take the engines apart and look for wear or other ways to improve the engines before the first airline customers are scheduled to bring the engines in for their first maintenance checks about 2011 or 2012.

http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/07/18/biz_airshow18.html

From www.boeing.com

Can’t await your concept drawings!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂

fightingirish

check this thread out to see them:

http://forum.airforces.info/showthread.php?p=404927#post404927

I want a 7E7 for Condor – a dream come true

Fantastic news, can’t wait to see them in action even those it will be about 5 years away!

How many PAX will it carry?

Hope Britannia are next.

Boeing Names First 7E7 Dreamliner Customers in Europe

From www.boeing.com

Boeing Names First 7E7 Dreamliner Customers in Europe
– Leading leisure and scheduled-service carriers to order 10 7E7s for fleet renewal and expansion
– Operators will set trend for efficiency and passenger comfort

SEATTLE, July 7, 2004 — The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] today confirmed announcements that Blue Panorama of Italy and First Choice Airways of the United Kingdom have selected the 7E7 Dreamliner to replace and expand their existing airplane fleets. These two carriers are the first in Europe to choose the 7E7, the world’s newest, most advanced commercial jetliner.

In separate press conferences in Rome and London , the carriers announced plans to acquire a total of 10 7E7s, valued at $1.2 billion at list prices. Blue Panorama will add four 7E7s to its fleet at a value of $500 million and First Choice will receive six 7E7s. Contract negotiations are expected to conclude later this year. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2009.

“Today’s announcements are ringing endorsements of the 7E7’s broad appeal across a spectrum of airlines,” said Marlin Dailey, vice president of Sales for Europe , Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “The 7E7 has the versatility and flexibility that allows airlines that offer scheduled or leisure service, or a mix of both, to adapt to their own evolving business models and to the dynamic demands of the market.”

Both carriers have selected the 7E7-8 model, with a range of 15,700 kilometers. This is 4,000 kilometers farther than today’s similar-sized airplanes, which will allow 7E7 operators to economically connect hundreds of new destinations for world travelers.

Blue Panorama and First Choice are in the process of evaluating their engine options, which include the General Electric GENX (GE Next Generation) and Rolls-Royce’s Trent 1000.

As these airlines join the launch team, they will be the first in Europe to benefit from the advanced economics, improved fuel efficiency and reduced noise of the 7E7. They will be the first to offer passengers a new, more comfortable flying experience, in cabins with larger windows, wider seats and wider aisles.

“Blue Panorama and First Choice will have a clear, competitive advantage over carriers operating more conventional aircraft,” Dailey said

The Boeing 7E7 Dreamliner is being designed with airlines, passengers, investors and the environment in mind. The technologically advanced airplane will use 20 percent less fuel than today’s airplanes of comparable size, provide customers with up to 60 percent more cargo revenue capacity, and present passengers with innovations including a new interior environment with higher humidity.

Boeing launched the 7E7 Dreamliner last April when it announced an order for 50 7E7s from Japanese carrier ANA, followed by an announcement by Air New Zealand for two 7E7s. Boeing has proposal acceptances out to more than two dozen airlines around the world and expects additional orders in the coming months.

Blue Panorama

Blue Panorama, headquartered in Rome , started operations in 1998. This privately-owned, all-Boeing operator currently flies five 737-400s and three 767-300ERs and will take delivery of a fourth 767-300ER in December. This year Blue Panorama expects to carry nearly 900,000 passengers on its charter and scheduled network extending across the Mediterranean , the Middle and Far East , Central America and the Caribbean . Over 70 percent of its long-haul operations are scheduled flights.

First Choice

First Choice Airways, based in the UK and previously known as Air 2000, is part of the Mainstream Holidays division of First Choice Holidays PLC, incorporating some of the largest brands in the UK travel industry. Other companies in the division include tour-operating brands such as First Choice Holidays, Unijet, 2wentys, Eclipse Direct, Falcon and JWT. In April 2004, the company, which focuses on offering its passengers a differentiated product, redefined the standards of long-haul charter flights by becoming the first European carrier to install the Boeing Enhanced 777 Interior in its 767 fleet.

Additional 7E7 Information

The 7E7 is a family of airplanes in the 200- to 300-seat class that will carry passengers on routes between 6,500 to 16,000 kilometers (3,500 and 8,500 nautical miles). The 7E7 will allow airlines to offer passengers more of what they want: affordable, comfortable, non-stop, point-to-point travel to more destinations around the world. In addition to bringing big-jet ranges to mid-size airplanes, the 7E7 will fly at Mach 0.85, as fast as today’s fastest commercial airplanes, while using much less fuel. Also, for the first time in commercial jet history, the 7E7 family will offer a standard engine interface for the two types of engines to be offered on the airplane, the General Electric GENX (GE Next Generation) or Rolls Royce’s Trent 1000, allowing the 7E7 to be fitted with either manufacturer’s engines at any point in time. Production of the Dreamliner will begin in 2006. First flight is expected in 2007, with certification, delivery and entry into service in 2008.

thats cool!
i’ll do my customary side view tonight

Can’t await your concept drawings!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂

fightingirish

Hi,
News statement on Bloomberg:

First Choice Holidays Plc, Europe’s fourth-largest vacation provider, said it signed a letter of intent to buy six Boeing Co. 7E7 aircraft worth about $750 million based on list prices, becoming the first U.K. customer for the proposed plane.

Crawley, England-based First Choice will take delivery of the planes in 2009 and expects to complete negotiations with Boeing this year, the company said at a press conference in London. It hasn’t chosen the engine supplier.

Thanks
Thomas Cook

Anyone heard anything yet? Renfrew can you find out doubt its National News Material unless for a hell of alot of aircraft!

Who said they will call it the 787? They may stick with 7E7

The 7E7 would look rarther dashing in BA livery I have to say. One question though… When are Boeing going to start calling it the 787 ?

Hi,
I wouldn’t be suprised if Thomas Cook purchased a couple of 7E7s at some point because they will want to expand their long haul operations sooner or later!

Thanks
Thomas Cook

Looks nice does’t she, maybe Thomas cook will follow suite now that would look good.

thats cool!

i’ll do my customary side view tonight

Hi,
Heres how she will look….

Enjoy!

Thanks
Thomas Cook

I think a 7E7 in First Choice livery will look pretty cool, not to sure about Britannia though uugghh all that blue and that stupib smilely tail, bring back the old colours.

Are Monarch having issues with there 330’s thought they were reliable?.

From a source within Monarch I was told that the A330s are always running into problems. He mentioned the toilets are always leaking. LOL!
As for the A321, well these are factory new examples and are always going tech.

On the Up side, I’ve not heard about any real problems with the a320 fleet, as Matt says there was one that rebelled in the tech side of things.