EBACE Show News - May 20, 2008 - (Page 34) NEW AIRCRAFT EBACE 2008 Embraer’s MLJ (left) will be able to carry four passengers some 2,300 nmi, while the MSJ will be able to travel 3,000 nmi with four. Embraer Is to Reveal New Jets’ Names Today Embraer’s Midlight Jet (MLJ) and Midsize Jet (MSJ), first announced at last October’s NBAA Convention in Atlanta, will be named here at EBACE. The Brazilian airframer is also revealing launch prices today. The two new jet models, which received Embraer board approval late last month, are being designed with a high degree of commonality. They will be positioned between the Phenom 300 and the Legacy 600 in Embraer’s product line. They share the same cabin cross-section, which will provide six-foot standup headroom in the aisle and a flat floor, and both will be equipped with a full fly-by-wire actuation system for ailerons, elevators, rudder and spoilers, a feature that will be “unique to their classes,” Embraer says. The principal differences between the MLJ and MSJ will be in range and price. The MLJ will have a range of 2,300 nmi with four passengers, dropping slightly to 2,200 nm with eight aboard. The MSJ will have a range of 3,000 nmi with four passengers, dropping to 2,800 nmi when carrying eight passengers. The MSJ will carry 8-12 passengers, while the MLJ will carry four to eight. Long-range cruise speeds for the MSJ will be Mach 0.8, and Mach .78 for the MLJ. Entry into service for the MSJ is expected in the second half of 2012, with the MLJ following about a year later. 34 Embraer has selected a new version of Honeywell’s HTF7000 turbofan—the 7,000+-poundsthrust HTF7500-E—to power the airplanes. HTF7000s currently power only the Bombardier Challenger 300. The Embraer contract is thus a huge deal for Honeywell, which has been seeking another customer for the engine for more than five years. It will get the HTF7000 family on two more platforms and help expand its appeal to other manufacturers planning aircraft for the Challenger 300/Embraer MLJ/MSJ market segment. Honeywell says the Embraer jets. The Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based avionics manufacturer has been supplying avionics for the Brazilian Air Force for more than 30 years and also has supplied some products for various Embraer-built aircraft. But Clay Jones, Rockwell Collins chairman and CEO, says that the Embraer contract marks “the first time we’ve had one of our integrated avionics platforms” on an Embraer airplane. The Pro Line Fusion system will include four high-resolution 15-inch diagonal LCDs with synthetic vision depiction of terrain and Embraer’s Midlight Jet (MLJ) and Midsize Jet (MSJ) share the same cabin cross-section, which will provide six-foot standup headroom in the aisle and a flat floor, and both will be equipped with a full fly-bywire actuation system for ailerons, elevators, rudder and spoilers. Embraer contract “is valued at more than $23 billion including aftermarket over the life of the agreement.” Honeywell expects to begin making engine deliveries to Embraer in the second half of 2011. The deal also is significant for Rockwell Collins, whose Pro Line Fusion integrated avionics systems have been selected for the new obstacles; Integrated Flight Information System (IFIS) with electronic charts and enhanced maps; Advanced Flight Management Systems with Wide Area Augmentation System that supports localizer Performance with Vertical guidance approaches (WAAS/LPV) and Required Navigation Performance (RNP) capabilities; advanced human- machine interface with graphical flight planning ability, a traffic surveillance system with Automatic Direct Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) capabilities; full-flight regimen auto throttles and an Information Management System (IMS) to manage databases and facilitate wireless interactivity with the ground infrastructure. One big question still to be resolved is how much of the structure for the MLJ and MSJ will be built in house. Embraer considered outsourcing fuselage construction of the Phenom 100 and 300, but ultimately decided it would be better to do that work at Embraer for those programs. President and CEO Frederico Fleury Curado says the company has proposals out now seeking risk-sharing partners to build major structural elements of the new models. Embraer expects the mid-light and mid-size segments of the business jet market will account for 2,780 new aircraft valued at $38 billion over the next decade. Luis Carlos Affonso, evp of the company’s Executive Jets unit, says Embraer would like to have a 20-30% share of those two market segments. Curado believes the new models will “blur the lines” or perhaps “redefine” market segments in the business jet arena because of the features and value proposition they will offer. —David Collogan May 20, 2008 www.aviationweek.com/shownews http://www.aviationweek.com/shownews
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