ACAC ARJ21

ACAC ARJ21

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARJ21

ARJ21

Artist's rendering of the ACAC ARJ21 in flight.
Role	Regional jet
Manufacturer	ACAC consortium
Designed by	ACAC consortium
First flight	28 November 2008
Introduced	2005
Status	Under Production As Of 2008
Primary users	Kunpeng Airlines Shanghai Airlines
Produced	Main Production Scheduled to begin in 2009
Number built	6^[1]
Unit cost	20 Million USD As Of 2008

The ACAC ARJ21 Xiangfeng (翔凤 Flying Phoenix) is a twin-engined regional airliner, and is the first passenger jet to be developed and indigenously produced by the People's Republic of China. This program is supported by 19 major European and US aerospace components suppliers, including General Electric (engine production), Honeywell (Fly-By-Wire system) and Rockwell Collins (avionics production).

Development

The ARJ21 is a key project, led by the government-controlled ACAC consortium, which began in March 2002 as part of China's "10th Five-Year Plan". The maiden flight of the ARJ21 was planned to take place in 2005 with formal handing over of the aircraft for use 18 months afterwards; however, the design work was delayed and the final trial production stage did not begin until June 2006. The first aircraft was rolled out on 21 December 2007 with plans for a maiden flight in March 2008; however this was first delayed to September 21 2008and finally took place on 28 November 2008. The aircraft is expected to become available to buyers in September 2009. The ACAC consortium aims to manufacture 11 ARJ21s a year by 2010, and 50 per year by 2015.

Design

Although ACAC refers to the ARJ21 as "designed by Chinese with completely independent intellectual property rights", it is being built using tooling which was originally provided by the McDonnell Douglas company for licence-production of the MD-90 in China. Consequently, it bears a strong resemblance to the DC-9 family of aircraft, with an identical cabin cross section, nose profile and tail. An all-new supercritical wing, which will have a sweepback of 25 degrees and be fitted with winglets to improve aerodynamic performance, has been designed by Ukraine’s Antonov. Antonov Design Bureau also assisted project with geometrical determination and integral analysis of the construction strength of ARJ21.

In addition to the baseline and the stretched passenger models, ACAC has also proposed extended-range, freight, and business jet variants.

Manufacturer

Members of the ACAC consortium, which was formed to develop the aircraft, will manufacture major components of the aircraft:

Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group: construction of the nose
Shanghai Aircraft Company: final assembly
Shenyang Aircraft Corporation: construction of the empennage
Xian Aircraft Company: construction of the wings and fuselage
Long list of component's supliers include: Microtecnica (Italy), EMTEQ (USA), Static Dischargers: HR Smith Ltd (UK), LISI Aerospace (France), Goodrich Interiors (DE), Bell-Memphis, Inc. (USA), Hartwell Corp. (USA), Rockwell Collins (USA), Technofan (France), Machined housings: AJR Industries, Inc. (USA), ALCOA, Inc. (USA), C.E.S.A (Spain), Fischer Advanced Composite Components AG (Austria), AMETEK Airscrew Ltd. (USA), Liebherr-Aerospace Lindenberg GmbH, MTI Polyfab - Canada, Dunlop Aircraft Tyres (UK), Kavlico Corporation (USA), B/E Aerospace Inc. (UK), Eaton Aerospace, Electric Distribution & Controls (USA), Honeywell Aerospace (USA), Rockwell Collins (USA), Sagem Défense Sécurité (France), Enhanced Vision Systems, Rockwell Collins (USA), Hamilton Sundstrand Power Systems (USA), Aerotech Herman Nelson, Inc., Goodrich Turbomachinery Products, Techspace Aero S.A., ALCOA, Inc. (USA) and General Electric CF34-10A (USA)

The Shanghai Aircraft Research Institute and the Xian Aircraft Design and Research Institute, which are also members of the consortium, are responsible for the design.

Variants

ARJ21-700 – baseline model which will have a capacity of 70 to 95 passengers.
ARJ21-900 – stretched fuselage model based on the ARJ-700, which will have a capacity of 95 to 105 passengers.
ARJ21F – dedicated freighter version of the ARJ21-700. It will have a capacity of 5 LD7 containers or PIP pallets, with a maximum payload of 10,150 kg.
ARJ21B – business jet version of the ARJ21-700. A typical configuration would cater for 20 passengers.

Orders and options

ARJ 21 from Joy Air

Entries shaded in pink have been announced, but have not yet signed a firm contract.

Date	Airline	EIS	Type
Date	Airline	EIS	ARJ21-700	ARJ21-900	ARJ21F	ARJ21B	TBA	Options	Rights
September 2003	Shanghai Airlines^[12]	2008	5
	Shandong Airlines^[12]	2008	10
	Shenzhen Financial Leasing^[12]	2008	20
	Shanghai Financial Leasing^[12]	2008	30
March 2004	Xiamen Airlines^[13] ^[14]	2008	6
December 2007	Kunpeng Airlines^[15] ^[16]	2008	100
December 2007	Lao Airlines^[17]^[18]	2011	2
March 2008	GECAS^[19]	2008	25					20
March 2008	Joy Air^[20]	2008	10
Sub-totals			208	0	0	0	0	20	0
Totals			208 Orders^[21]					0

Note that EIS dates on this table have not been updated to reflect the delay in EIS to 2009 mentioned earlier

Specifications (ARJ21-700)

General characteristics

Capacity: 78-85 passengers
First class: 38 in seat pitch with 2+2 seating arrangement
Economy class: 32 in seat pitch with 3+2 seating arrangement
Payload: 16.799 m³ (593.25 ft³)
Cabin length: 18.426 m (60 ft 5.43 in)
Length: 33.46 m (109 ft 9 in)
Wingspan: 27.29 m (89 ft 7 in)
Height: 8.44 m (27 ft 8 in)
Wing area: 79.86m² (859.61ft²)
Empty weight: 24.955kg (55,016lb)
Loaded weight: kg (lb)
Max takeoff weight: 40,500 kg (89,300 lb)
Fuel tank capacity: 10,386 kg (22,897 lb)
Powerplant: 2× General Electric CF34-10A turbofans, 68.20 kN (15,332 lbf) each

Performance

Cruise speed: 0.78 Mach (829 km/h, 515 mph)
Range: 3,700km (2,000nm)
Standard: 1,200 nmi (2,200 km) (1,400 mi, 2,200 km)
Extended: 2,000 nmi (2,300 mi, 3,700 km))
Service ceiling: 12,000 m (39,000 ft)
Rate of climb: m/s (ft/min)

External links

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Published in July 2009.

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