The 1980s Generation

Planes that have new computers and color radar

Compared with the revolutionary jets of the late 1950s and the awesome jumbos of the early 1970s, the third generation of the early 1980s will seem to bring only evolutionary change. The new planes will not be longer, larger or sleeker than today's jumbos but somewhat shorter, smaller and squatter. They will be quieter, less fuel-thirsty, more automated and efficient to operate.

For the most part, they are also designed to save as much development money as possible for the planemakers. Since it costs about $2 billion to design and tool up for an all-new plane and engines, most of the new generation will be cloned from present models, scaled down in size and outfitted with the latest technology. Even so, the cost of producing a derivation can reach $1 billion; hence, a planemaker must sell between 400 and 500 aircraft to break even.

Last week McDonnell Douglas decided to drop out of the sales race and scrapped plans for its new-generation DC-X-200, which would have competed directly with Boeing's 767 in tomorrow's big market for mediumrange, wide-bodied jets. Instead, McDonnell Douglas will concentrate on a stretched and upgraded version of its long-range DC-10 jumbo.

Barring other dropouts, the new generation will get going in 1981 and 1982, when three manufacturers plan to deliver planes of roughly the same capacity (197 to 230 passengers) and range (2,300 to 3,680 miles). They are the Boeing 767, the Airbus A310-200 and the Lockheed L1011-400. To save weight and fuel, the Boeing and the Airbus will have two engines, the Lockheed "Dash 400" three.

The Airbus A310 is derived from the larger and highly successful A300, the first twin-engine and wide-bodied jet. The Dash 400 is a slightly smaller version of the Lockheed TriStar 1011. Lockheed is also experimenting with a long-range model, the Dash 500, which would fly 6,100 miles at one stretch.

Among the U.S. planemakers, only Boeing, which has made record profits on its 727s, had the financial strength to design a totally new jet. Following its successful practice of creating entire families of aircraft with interchangeable parts, Boeing now has three new-generation planes in various stages of development: the 757, 767 and 777. All bear a striking resemblance--long "supercritical" wings and huge bypass engines--but the 757 is a narrow-bodied aircraft, designed to replace the DC-9 and 727 on short and medium routes. The 767 and 777 are virtually identical wide bodies, except that the latter has three engines.

For smaller loads (80 to 109 passengers) and shorter hops (100 to 200 miles), the nationalized British Aerospace plans to roll out its four-engine Model 146-200 in 1982. A few years later, Boeing hopes to introduce a far more advanced short-haul plane; it will be adapted from the QSRA (for Quiet Short Haul Research Airplane), which Boeing developed for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The plane will be ideal for commuters, since it can take off and land on extremely short runways. Reason: its four engines mounted atop the wing blow exhaust over the upper surface, creating phenomenal lift.

The first new-generation plane that most Americans will fly will be the 767. Passengers may be disappointed that its interior is not a radical improvement over today's jets. True, a few creature comforts will be better. Six-footers will not risk cracking their heads on the door frames; the entry, at 6 ft. 2 in., will be two inches higher than the doorway of today's 707s or 727s. For passengers who are accustomed to high-density seating, the 767's economy section will convey a sense of spaciousness, because the seats will be arranged in a two-three-two configuration and divided by two aisles.

Unfortunately, the impression of roominess is largely illusionary. The ceiling will be 1 1/2 in. lower than today's 707's and 727's, and economy-class seats will be only 18 in. wide, or 2.4 in. less than today's already cramped accommodations. Even narrower will be the seats in an eight-abreast charter configuration--only 16 in. across. Knee room will be marginally improved because seat backs will be thinner and the lower part of the seat in front will curve inward.

The interiors of the Airbus A310 and Lockheed Dash 400 will be similar to the 767. In the Airbus, economy seating will be arranged in a two-four-two configuration; the Dash 400 will use nine-abreast seating with two aisles.

Despite the cramped quarters, the new planes should delight those passengers who relish the sensation of flying. They will lift off more easily, climb effortlessly and cruise quietly through the skies at an average 550 m.p.h. The planes will be much more stable at lower speeds than today's jets, and landings will be safer.

Nearly everything that will qualify the planes to be called a new generation is hidden from view or discernible only by the expert eye. Some of the biggest improvements are in the cockpit. After takeoff, the flight can be fully automated, should the captain so choose. A computer back on the ground in the Airline Command Center will reckon the entire flight plan and feed the instructions for course headings, throttle settings, climbs, descents and the like into three smaller computers aboard the aircraft.

The onboard computers will compile and analyze the details of the plane's performance and present the crew with up-to-the-minisecond accounts of engine efficiency, fuel consumption, progress of flight and miles to destination. Flight crew members will become monitors of the automated systems, and the new instrument panels are designed to help them keep constant watch on performance. They no longer will have to rely on a clutter of spinning indicators or round dials. Information will be displayed, simply and concisely, on digital readouts, vertical scales and bright, television-style screens. A much improved radar will display the weather ahead in living color (red for thunderstorms, yellow for light rain, green for smooth air). An indicator will give the distance and flying time to bad weather.

If a malfunction occurs in any of the systems, a buzzer will alert the crew, who will look at a special command panel known as The Enunciator. It will provide an instant indication of where the trouble is. The flight crew will have another helper: the EADI (for electronic altitude and direction indicator). On a cathode tube, which looks like a small TV screen, the image of the plane will be portrayed. As the craft maneuvers in flight, the tube will show its movements--its banks, climb, heading and descent. As the plane approaches the airport, EADI will tell the pilot if he is on course, and can even display a preprogrammed diagram of the runway. The new generation will be equipped with automatic systems for landing in all weather.

Though the avionic advances are impressive, the most significant improvements have been made in the two major elements whose interaction causes a plane to fly: engine and wing.

Engine. Because of metallurgical advances and more efficient design, the new engines are lighter and quieter and burn 6% to 7% less kerosene fuel than those in current jets. These new engines, which are refinements of existing models, produce thrust in two ways. First, they suck huge amounts of air into a compressor section and eject it under high pressure into the combustion chamber, or "hot throat." There it is mixed with kerosene spray and ignited, reaching a temperature of 2400DEG F. This explosion spews back to turn a turbine, and then the exhaust exits as thrust. Second, the turbine turns a shaft to a big multi-bladed fan at the front of the engine. The fan functions like an old-style propeller and shoves back tons of air for additional thrust.

Wing. Today's jet wings have one major drawback: they create too much drag in relation to the lift they generate. Their blunt leading edges and curved upper surfaces cause the air flow to break away too soon from the wing, creating burbles and turbulence that retard speed. The solution: the new supercritical wing, so named because it cuts through the air in such a way that it creates less turbulence. Developed by NASA, it is somewhat similar in shape to a glider wing and achieves more lift by being flatter on top and longer. It also has a slight downward slant at the trailing edge that causes the air in motion to adhere to the wing surface longer, thus making a smoother passage. The superiority of the supercritical design has been known for years. But engineers could not apply it to the jets until stronger, more durable metals were developed that could withstand the great stress to which the wings are subjected.

The fuselage of the new generation refutes the old notion that sleek lines lead to high performance. In the new aerodynamic designs, bulky is beautiful. The blunt nose creates huge waves, but because of smoother aircraft skins, the air flow is uniform around the fuselage. Further in the future, the planemakers may use a NASA-developed system of grooving the front part of the fuselage to reduce drag. NASA also has proved that a "wavy," or "washboard," pattern at the rear diminishes drag-inducing turbulence. Less drag means lower fuel consumption.

No new supersonic is being developed at present. The Anglo-French Concorde, of which ten are now flying, is such a fuel-gulping money loser that no more are on order and five have been left unsold. NASA and U.S. planemakers are still conducting supersonic research on a modest scale, but an American SST is not expected before the 1990s, and then only if the world economy is buoyant.

The most promising research is retrogressive. United Technologies is developing a "prop fan"--an eight-blade propeller driven by a jet engine. The blades look like warped boomerangs. They are more efficient for subsonic aircraft than the fanjet engines planned for the 1980s; on flights of up to 1,500 miles, the prop fan would be 40% more fuel economical, since a propeller is more efficient than jet thrust during climb-outs and letdowns. Even so, the boomerang has a problem: excessive noise. Furthermore, how can airlines lure passengers back to a prop after they have flown in a jet?

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