Mistubishi MRJ

Mitsubishi Aircraft has introduced a stretched variant to its MRJ regional jet family and unveiled extensive design changes, including using aluminium instead of carbonfibre composites for the aircraft's wings.

With the aluminium wings, the company moves away from its earlier aim of using significant amounts of composite materials for the airframe. The result is that the only remaining composite parts will be the empennage, horizontal tail and vertical tail, amounting to 10-15% of the total airframe.

"Conceptually, this is a very big change," admits Mitsubishi Aircraft. "Structural changes are easier and require shorter lead-time with aluminium wings. With an aluminium wing box, the wing structure can be more easily optimised for the MRJ70/90 and the stretch model, which enhances the overall competitiveness of the MRJ family."

The change will allow its engineers to develop an optimum wing for the MRJ90 and minimise the deterioration of range performance for the stretched version. The biggest benefit will be for the MRJ70, which will weigh less.

Pélikan a écrit:On pouvait penser que les CFRP étaient supposé mieux adaptés, dans l'état de l'art, à des modules plus petits que le 787.

C'est ce qui a rendu au moins attentiste pas mal d'observateurs.

Maintenant, Mistubishi étant complètement immergé dans le 787, avec Boeing, fait du "plus classique", encore avec Boeing ( mais japonais est maitre chez soi ) sur un avion trois fois plus petit.

De quoi se gratter la gamberge, au sujet des Cseries....
Et du 787.

Peut-être aussi une démarche qui va rassurer le client ( ANA ! par exemple [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir cette image] )

In a very loud wake up call to Boeing, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which makes the carbon fibre wings for its troubled 787 Dreamliner project, has cancelled plans to use composites in major sections of its own MRJ regional jet project, including its wing.
The 787 project was plunged into disarray after a Mitsubishi built wing broke prematurely during a stress test involving a static assembly of the Dreamliner in May.
Mitsubishi is a design and risk sharing partner in the 787 program as well as a new contender in the regional airliner market currently dominated by Embraer of Brazil and Bombardier of Canada.
Its 70-90 seat sized MRJ was due to go into service by 2013, and feature carbon fibre wings and fuselage barrel, making it more than 50% composite by zero fuel weight in order to exploit the lighter weight promised by plastic laminates.
It was to be in a very material way, a mini-787.
However Mitsubishi’s shock announcement overnight says composites will now be restricted to a maximum of around 15% of the structure, mainly in the tail and other areas where composites have been used by jet makers for nearly 30 years.
It is excluding the material from those areas where complex load bearing stresses will occur, particularly in high cycle operations such as regional services where the jet may experience up to 12 landings or takeoffs and pressurisations a day.
A Mitsubishi spokesperson says, “ Structural changes are easier and require shorter lead times with aluminium wings. With an aluminium wing box, the wing structure can be more easily optimised for the family [and a newly announced stretch model with 100 seats or more].
“This enhances the overall competitiveness of the MRJ family.”
Mitsubishi said that cancelling composites on a large scale allows it to minimise the deterioration of range performance in the largest version of the range, yet render the smallest version lighter than it would have been.
The company is reported to have experienced serious over weight problems with the composite design, and in its contribution to the 787.
The 787 is supposed to fly before the end of the year and begin deliveries to airlines before the end of next year. The testing of a fix for the failed Mitsubishi wing is supposed to occur at Paine Field north of Seattle before the end of this month, and there are signs of work taking place in advance of that test.
Boeing concealed the failure of the 787 stress test in May until June, when its then head of commercial airplanes, Scott Carson, revealed that it had forced the postponement of the first flight of the 787 only days before it had been promised to take place.
This took the credibility of the 787 program to a new low.
Carson was subsequently relieved of his Dreamliner role, and the president and CEO of Boeing, Jim McNerney, [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] told a technical conference that the 787 program ‘hurts like hell.’
It’s about to hurt even more.

VictorK a écrit:
Quelles sont les chances de voir une remotorisation d'E-Jet d'Embraer Newbuilt ou retrofit avec un GTF ou un autre moteur ?

Mitsubishi Aircraft has signed a deal with US regional carrier Trans States Airlines for 100 aircraft in the MRJ regional jet family.

Under the agreement, Trans States has firm orders for 50 aircraft and options for 50 more, says Mitsubishi.
This is the second firm order for the MRJ. Japan's All Nippon Airways has firm orders for 15 MRJs and options for 10.
Delivery dates have yet to be set, and Mitsubishi says the US carrier is interested in all three variants: the 92-seat MRJ90, the 78-seat MRJ70, and the proposed stretched variant of the aircraft with 100 seats.

Mitsubishi Aircraft announced the stretched variant on 9 September after discussions with potential customers in Europe and the USA, and the final design will now be frozen in mid-2010 instead of the third-quarter of 2009.
As a result, the first flight is delayed from the fourth quarter of 2011 to the second quarter of 2012. Launch customer All Nippon Airways will receive its first aircraft in the first quarter of 2014 instead of the fourth quarter of 2013.
Trans States is a regional airline providing feeder services for American Airlines, [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and US Airways.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) is in negotiations with [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] to assemble P&W geared turbofan engines (GTF) for Mitsubishi Aircraft's Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ).
"It is under discussions but it is P&W's decision whether we will" assemble [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] engines, says a MHI spokesman, who was unable to say when P&W will make a decision.
He says MHI at this stage is only looking to assemble GTF engines destined for MRJs.
MHI owns 64% of Mitsubishi Aircraft which has selected the P&W GTF as the powerplant for its MRJ aircraft now in development.
The spokesman says MHI manufactures no commercial aircraft engines but it does do maintenance work on P&W engines

Mitsubishi Aircraft says that around half of the double-digit operating cost advantage claimed for its MRJ regional jet over the rival Embraer E-Jet family comes from its advanced airframe technology, and the remainder from its Pratt & Whitney PW1000G geared turbofan engines.

The 88- to 92-seat MRJ90's cash operating cost advantage over the similarly sized Embraer 190 is
"28% on a per-trip basis and 16% on a per-seat/mile basis", claims Mitsubishi Aircraft's marketing director Yugo Fukahara speaking at the Singapore air show.

"The majority of the cash operating cost advantage comes from fuel burn and half of this comes from the engine and half from the airframe," he adds.

The airframer remains bullish about the contribution of the new twinjet's airframe design and structure delivers to its greater efficiency over rivals, despite last year's decision to adopt a majority aluminium structure after dropping plans for a carbonfibre wing.

Although the latest MRJ brochure claims "advanced aerodynamics and cutting-edge technology with the use of composite materials", as a result of the wing structure rethink the only remaining composite parts are the empennage, horizontal tail and vertical tail, amounting to 10-15% of the total airframe.

The MRJ90, which is the lead variant and due to enter service with launch customer All Nippon Airways in early 2014,
has 31% lower block fuel burn per trip and 18% better block fuel burn per seat over the E-190, claims Mitsubishi.

"What this means is a $1.25 million advantage per aircraft per year," says the company's executive vice-president Junichi Miyakawa.

The advantage over the MRJ's Asian rival, China's GE CF34-powered Comac ARJ21, is potentially even greater, says Miyakawa. While the specific ARJ21 performance data is unavailable for a true comparison, Miyakawa estimates that its disadvantage to the MRJ is similar that of the Rolls-Royce Tay-powered Fokker 100, which has around 40% higher fuel burn per trip.

Meanwhile, Miyakawa says that the MRJ's development programme is "on track". The preliminary design review was achieved last year when the "outer mould line" and sizing of major structural elements was completed.

"The critical design review, or design freeze, will be reached by the end of the summer," he adds.
The programme remains on course to achieve a first flight by mid-2012.


[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]

Mitsubishi Aircraft says that around half of the double-digit operating cost advantage claimed for its MRJ regional jet over the rival [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] E-Jet family comes from its advanced airframe technology, and the remainder from its Pratt & Whitney PW1000G geared turbofan engines.

The 88- to 92-seat MRJ90's cash operating cost advantage over the similarly sized [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] is "28% on a per-trip basis and 16% on a per-seat/mile basis", claims Mitsubishi Aircraft's marketing director Yugo Fukahara speaking at the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]. "The majority of the cash operating cost advantage comes from fuel burn and half of this comes from the engine and half from the airframe," he adds.

The airframer remains bullish about the contribution of the new twinjet's airframe design and structure delivers to its greater efficiency over rivals, despite last year's decision to adopt a majority aluminium structure after dropping plans for a carbonfibre wing.
Although the latest MRJ brochure claims "advanced aerodynamics and cutting-edge technology with the use of composite materials", as a result of the wing structure rethink the only remaining composite parts are the empennage, horizontal tail and vertical tail, amounting to 10-15% of the total airframe.

The MRJ90, which is the lead variant and due to enter service with launch customer All Nippon Airways in early 2014, has 31% lower block fuel burn per trip and 18% better block fuel burn per seat over the E-190, claims Mitsubishi. "What this means is a $1.25 million advantage per aircraft per year," says the company's executive vice-president Junichi Miyakawa.

The advantage over the MRJ's Asian rival, China's GE [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]-powered Comac ARJ21, is potentially even greater, says Miyakawa.While the specific ARJ21 performance data are unavailable for a true comparison, Miyakawa estimates that its disadvantage to the MRJ is similar that of the Rolls-Royce Tay-powered [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] 100, which has around 40% higher fuel burn per trip.

Meanwhile, Miyakaewa says that the MRJ's development programme is "on track". The preliminary design review was achieved last year when the "outer mould line" and sizing of major structural elements was completed. "The critical design review, or design freeze, will be reached by the end of the summer," he adds. The programme remains on course to achieve a first flight by mid-2012.

BAE Systems has signed an agreement with Japan's Mitsubishi Aircraft to provide services for its Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ).

Under the contract, BAE Systems will offer design integration and certification services in connection with the aircraft's propulsion systems.

"A team from BAE Systems' regional aircraft business at Prestwick in Scotland will provide engineering expertise on a number of work packages for the aircraft which include powerplant, pylon, nacelle, auxiliary power units and fuel systems," says BAE Systems.

Yukihiko Nakata VP system design of Mitsubishi Aircraft says: "We would like to have a strong and firm position in the future regional jet market by taking advantage of their [BAE Systems'] wide experience and knowledge and we expect their further cooperation continuously."

The MRJ is scheduled to have its first flight in 2012, and will enter into service in 2014. Japan's All Nippon Airways has ordered the aircraft.

The Japanese air force, navy and coastguard have a future requirement for regional aircraft to replace their ageing fleets of [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] turboprops.

Japanese authorities acknowledge there is a need to start replacing the assets, say industry sources involved in the sale of regional aircraft.

"There is some small movement in the ministry of defence to phase out the YS-11s," says one.

"I don't know when they plan to phase out the YS-11s, but the physical condition of the aircraft will decide it."

The aircraft's age means that purchasing spare parts is a problem, the source adds.

Constraints on Japan's defence budget mean the purchase of a YS-11 replacement is unlikely to be included in the next fiscal year from April 2011, industry sources say.

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] says the average age of Japan's YS-11 fleet is 40 years.

The air force has 13, the navy 10 and the coastguard three, it adds.

The YS-11 is a 64-seat turboprop built in the 1960s and early 1970s by Nihon Aircraft Manufacturing, which has since folded.

Mitsubishi Aircraft has a sales team dedicated to pitching the MRJ regional jet to the government. Other possible contenders include the ATR 42/72, [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]'s Q-series and secondhand Saab turboprops.

All Nippon Airways said it would buy 15 jets from Mitsubishi Aircraft for about JPY¥69.2 billion (USD$763 million), in a boost to Japan's fledgling project to enter the regional jet market.

Mitsubishi Aircraft is stepping up efforts to attract more customers for its MRJ jets, Japan's first domestically developed passenger aircraft, which will compete against Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer's regional jet series.

ANA said in a statement that its order for 15 90-seat MRJ90s is expected to be delivered between April 2013 and March 2018.
The planes are part of ANA's order for 25 MRJs that it placed in March 2008, but the airline previously had not revealed the price or other details.

Mitsubishi Aircraft, owned 64 percent by Mitsubishi Heavy, has said that the jet, to be built in 70-seat and 90-seat variants, will be more fuel efficient and help airlines cut operating costs by USD$20 million over the next 20 years.
In February, a Mitsubishi Aircraft senior executive said in an interview that the company was also looking to finalise its first sales deal with Japan Airlines, which filed for bankruptcy on January 19.

(Reuters)

Clap a écrit:D'accord, mais pour le moment Mistubshi ne donne pas des maux de têtes à A et B.

Clap a écrit:Un MRJ 90 avec un peu plus de succès que le NAMC YS 11, c'est très possible.

Et Mistubishi a revu le design du MRJ : plus d'alliages conventionnels et moins de pièces sensibles en plastique.

Clap a écrit:Le GTF est amplement suffisant sur le plan du risque. La SFC ne faisant pas tout, la prudence est à l'agenda nippon.

Clap a écrit:Quant à aller chercher vers les 150 pax, rien ne dit que Mistubishi se l'interdit. Mais nous n'avons rien vu de tel pour le moment.

Clap a écrit:Si ce MRJ 70 / 90 marche, c'est un concurrent mortel pour ATR, pas pour Airbus ou Boeing.

Clap a écrit:Si le CS 100 Bombardier marche, c'est un concurrent pour les plus petits modules de A et B, et aussi un concurrent mortel pour certains clients du Dash Q 400 et des CRJ 900 et NG 1000.

Un vrai jeu de c..., non ?