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BOEING PLANS "747-IMPROVED"

By Sebastian Steinke

If there is one aircraft type that every child can recognise straight away, then it is probably the Boeing 747 jumbo jet, with its characteristic bulge behind the cockpit. Even after 30 years in airline service, the American manufacturer does not view its 747, of which it has to date sold no fewer than 1351 units to 85 airlines, as in any way a model on its way out. And next summer will see the unveiling of the next version, the "747-400 Longer Range", which so far has been ordered by Qantas and ILFC.

Yet Boeing's flagship, which is one of the best-selling commercial aircraft of all time, suffered a setback that was hard to swallow at the end of March last year when, despite several attempts, development of a substantially stretched 747 with an enlarged wing had to be laid on ice due to lack of airline interest. This caused alarm bells to go off at Boeing, for at the same time arch rival Airbus succeeded in breaking into the upper end of the 747 market segment with the strongly growth-oriented A380 programme, which is already selling well, and thus in upsetting Boeing's traditional and lucrative monopoly position. In which direction will the 747 move after the 747-400LR is unveiled?

Instead of dramatic increases in fuselage length, the Boeing management has now committed itself to a number of small, but collectively quite major, improvements of detail on the 747, culminating in a spanking new, particularly environmentally friendly variant which currently goes under the working name of "747-Improved". The "747-Improved", with a 416-424 seat capacity, will fit neatly in the gap between the A340-600 (323 seats) and the A380-800 (542 seats), an as yet completely undisputed market niche, even in the competition with Airbus.

"The noise issue will become more and more important. Therefore this 747 needs to be an especially considerate neighbour," says Bill Droppelman, Brand Manager for the 747, explaining his objectives for the latest jumbo project during a visit to Seattle by FLUG REVUE. "We plan to reduce noise emissions on the approach by 2.9 EPNdB and on takeoff by as much as 3.3 EPNdB, as well as reducing the lateral noise footprint by 1.4 EPNdB. This, he explains, will make the "747-Improved" compliant with the stringent "QC 2" noise limits that will come into force at London Heathrow in only a few years' time.

Not an easy task for his engineers. Droppelman goes on to outline the various approaches that are being tried. "A relatively large amount of noise can be reduced directly on the engine nacelles. We want to extend the air inlets and line them with sound-absorbent structures on longer routes. But at the same time we are also planning to make aerodynamic improvements to the flaps to reduce wind noise. Again, the undercarriage retraction and extension sequence will be improved, the coverings over the flap-drive mechanisms are to be optimised, the ailerons are to be more aerodynamic and, generally, all the surfaces are to be 'cleansed' of any unwanted noise sources."

However, what is expected to make a real contribution towards combating noise will be a modified flight management system (FMS) with an automatic "power management function". This should enable the aircraft to climb especially steeply following takeoff. "A lot of pilots don't climb after rotation as steeply as is in fact possible on the 747," says Droppelman. "The new FMS will keep the 747 within safe limits but ensure that it is already higher up in the air by the time it crosses the airport perimeter. The result will be less noise on the ground when we fly over the microphones of the noise measuring stations.

Boeing is also planning some technical changes to the engines. "We would like to raise the power output on the optional General Electric (GE) and Pratt & Whitney (PW) turbines to 63,300lb by 2003. Raising the thrust means that the air intake, combustion chamber and reverse thrust will require modification. But at the moment the upper limit on power output of the Rolls-Royce engines is 59,900lb, although even here there is scope for noise reduction."

The range possible with the uprated performance engines would be slightly less in the case of PW and slightly greater with GE. Hence Droppelman sees the GE variant as the most promising for the present. Whether these modifications can also be made available as a retrofit kit, however, Droppelman considers doubtful.

"If the market accepts the '747-Improved', it will probably be re-christened the '747-Quiet' in the long-term. Rollout could be as early as March 2003, with the maiden flight in May. If the flight tests and especially the noise trials in Glasgow, Montana, are a success, then an in-service date of September 2003 would be possible." Droppelman adds optimistically, "We already have explicit customer enquiries from Asia and Europe.".

Another major addition to the green package described above is several new cabin options for the 747. "We want to finally make use of the unused space above the main deck. Here it would be possible to create a gangway with up to two metres' standing room height which could open onto sleeping compartments for up to 16 Business Class passengers to the sides. The corridor would branch off behind the upper deck and the berths would only be used during the cruise, not during takeoff or landing. Sleeping compartments would definitely be a very alluring product enhancement for longhaul flights," Bill Droppelman believes. "For example, you would be able to work on the computer, make phonecalls or simply watch TV, away from unwanted prying eyes. Alternatively the space above the main deck could be turned into offices or conference rooms, or be used as a kitchen storage area for full or empty food trolleys. We have no plans to use the baggage compartment in the lower deck for any other purposes, we just want to be earning additional revenue from freight." It is mainly in First Class and Business Class that Droppelman expects comfort to be improved, whereas the tourist class is still extremely price-sensitive, so that the airlines are unlikely to want to take out any seats in order to improve comfort significantly.

The 747 freighters will not miss out on the latest cabin modifications for, after all, 240 jumbos are used solely as cargo aircraft. The main enhancement planned here is an improved loading system, which is to be modernised with new sliding guides and drives. These are not only almost 1.2 tonnes lighter, but they are also more reliable and require less in the way of maintenance.

At this point Marlene Nelson joins in the discussion. She is 747 Chief Project Engineer, the driving force behind the technical improvements on the future generations of the jumbo. She describes her strategy using the term "value engineering". "We are integrating into the 747 everything that adds some value as far as the customer is concerned. Every new technical solution must make a profit and be cost-effective. In particular, we are trying to standardise the 747 more strongly so as to lower the production costs. At any rate we are doing that wherever "our customers' customers", i.e. the passengers, will not notice the difference. The airlines want to continue to offer different products, but "behind the scenes" standardisation will not do any harm."

Thus, for example, the extensive wiring for entertainment electronics and on-board communications can be routinely fitted in the factory, so that all the airlines have to then do is connect up their terminal devices." Similarly, the 747 freighter is to be standardised as a "Standard selections freighter" in the future. 25 features that were previously add-ons will now be provided as standard. Examples mentioned by Marlene Nelson of the otherwise extensive product maintenance on the jumbo include the installation of new smoke alarms that do not use any radioactive materials, improved ergonomics on the cockpit instrument panels, the installation of lightweight liquid crystal displays to replace the heavy cathode-ray tubes, oxygen cylinders out of carbon fibre instead of steel, and a general reduction in the number of individual parts in many subassemblies, for instance in the new cockpit stairway on the freighter. Ease of maintenance is also to be improved. Thus the landing-gear doors have been redesigned so that they can be replaced more quickly when damaged by baggage carts, something that happens relatively frequently.

Throughout the detailed work, however, Nelson has her mind on future growth options for the 747. "We plan to keep the fuselage diameter as it is, but once the market recovers we could still fit the jumbo with a new wing and new engines in 2008/2009. The 747 is not a competitor of the Sonic Cruiser and we shall continue to invest in our largest civil aircraft."

Nelson's optimistic assessment is shared by Jeff Peace. As the previous 747-400 Programme Manager and freshly appointed Vice President and General Manager, at Boeing he is "Mr. 747" in person. "To date we have not had any cancellations with the 747, although there have been a few cases of deliveries being put back. Our production schedule for 2002/2003 is virtually full," says Peace. 13 new orders came in in 2001 up to the middle of November. "We estimate the market for the 747 at $100 billion over the next 20 years. That's the equivalent of up to $5 billion a year. The list price is around $200 million, and we could build 25 aircraft a year. The biggest incentive to upgrade the 747 fleets are the tougher noise directives world-wide, which simply cannot be complied with any more using older planes," explains Peace. "The 747 has an excellent market position, as it is the biggest of the fragmenters." By this Peace means that the 747, unlike the larger A380, is suitable not only for trunk routes but also for high-traffic, point-to-point, long-range flights that avoid the hub airports. The costs here are similar to those of the MD-11. In the long term the 747 could continue in production for another 30 years.

As well as a lot of improvements of detail, the production processes themselves are also to be modernised. On this subject Robert Cullen, Manufacturing Superintendent, had this to say during a subsequent visit to the production line in Everett, where the as yet unpainted, 62nd 747 bound for Lufthansa is undergoing completion. "We are currently trying out the benefits of having a continuously advancing final assembly line. This means that from 2003 the aircraft will no longer be transported to and fro between fixed workstations but they will be moving the entire time, at the rate of around 30cm per hour, in the direction of the hangar gate. "On one side of the hangar we assemble the wings and on the other the fuselages, and in the centre the finished aircraft comes back again. In this way we are speeding up the throughput. There may be fewer aircraft in the hangar, but they are finished more quickly. That means we don't have to hold expensive individual parts for so long. For, about 30 days prior to delivery it gets really expensive. That's when the flap drives are assembled, the electronics is added and we exchange the yellow ballast weights on the wings for real engines," explains the dynamic production engineer.

Originally it had taken 120 days to build a 747, and this had already been reduced down to 90 days. However, 70 days was the objective for the future. Labour costs is another area in which Boeing hopes to make savings through the use of new technology: laser-controlled lift installations align the huge, tubelike fuselage segments automatically, enabling faster and more accurate final assembly. All tools and materials management is now performed using electronic inventory control, which also monitors closely all work progress. Finally, Boeing saves three working days by using automatic drilling machines to drill the million holes that are necessary on each aircraft for the ground segments. Boeing plans to use the new production methods to give "the market leader, the legend, the queen of the sky" (Boeing slogan for the 747) a new glamour. For, as Robert Cullen says, "Nobody owes us a 70% share of the market, we have to earn it and we intend to do so."

From page 32 of FLUG REVUE 1/2002