What is a Boeing 717? Why is he good? These and other questions will be discussed in the article. This aircraft is a twin-engine jet passenger aircraft manufactured by the Boeing Association. In the line of the developer, this is a single liner created by a third-party enterprise.
It is known that in 1997, Boeing absorbed the aircraft manufacturer McDonnell Douglas, which had been producing aircraft of the same name for 30 years. Consequently, the MD-95 version of the DC-9 went to Boeing and then changed its name.
Aircraft
It is known that the first flight of the Boeing 717 was made in 1998 on September 2. It has been operated since 1999 from October 12. Produced from 1995 to May 23, 2006. A total of 156 aircraft were built.
Following Boeing's acquisition of the Douglas Aircraft Factories in August 1997, the Boeing 717 became the last aircraft produced since the 1960s for the MD-80/90 and DC-9 medium-haul Douglas series.
Operation
In total, there were 154 Boeing 717 aircraft in the airline fleet in 2009, of which 23 were in storage:
- AirTrain Airways (86 aircraft);
- QantasLink (11 boards);
- MexicanaClick (16 in storage);
- Hawaiian Airlines (15 private, three leased, two in storage);
- Midwest Airlines (nine aircraft) withdrawn from 2008;
- Volotea (nine boards);
- Blue1 (nine);
- Bangkok Airways (double);
- Spanair (three);
- Quantum Air (five in storage);
- Turkmenistan Airlines (seven, of which one is in storage).
Features
Boeing 717 board has the following parameters:
- Engines BMW/Rolls Royce BR715 (2 X 8400 kgf).
- Dimensions: side height - 8.92 m, length - 37.81 m, wingspan - 28.44 m, maximum fuselage width - 3.3 m, wing sweep angle along the line - ¼ chord (degrees) 24o, wing area - 92.9 m².
- Number of seats: crew - two people, passengers in the cabin of two classes - 106, in the economy class - 98, limit - 124.
- Passenger cabin parameters: maximum width - 3.14 m, maximum height - 2.06 m.
- Loads and masses: take-off - 51, 71 (54, 885) tons, sides without fuel - 43, 5 tons, empty curb - 31, 675 (32, 11) tons, landing load - 46, 2 tons, useful - 12.2 tons, fuel - 13,890 (16,654) tons.
- Speed: cruising - 810 km/h, limit - 930 km/h.
The aerodynamic scheme looks like this: "Boeing 717" - low-wing turbofan, equipped with swept wings, two motors, rear engines and T-tail with movingstabilizer.
History
McDonnell Douglas started building the DC-9 back in the early 60s of the last century. It was assumed that this aircraft will serve medium and short-haul airlines. The DC-9 first took to the air in 1965, and a couple of months later, airlines began operating it on systematic flights. The DC-9 was manufactured until 1982, when it was technically and morally obsolete. By 1982, 976 DC-9s had been built.
In 1980, Douglas introduced the next descendant of the DC-9, the MD-80, to the market. Unlike its predecessor, the volume of fuel tanks was increased on the new airliner, as well as the maximum takeoff weight. In addition, it was equipped with more powerful motors. From 1980 to 1999 approximately 1200 MD-80s were sold.
At the Paris Air Show in 1991, Douglas announced the start of the creation of the third generation of the DC-9 - MD-95. The aircraft went on sale in 1994. It differed from previous versions by a fuselage shortened by a couple of meters, modern on-board equipment, wing size and new BMW Rolls-Royse BR700 engines.
The end of an era Douglas
Douglas announced in 1996 that the company did not have the funds to prolong work on the next generation aircraft equipped with a wide fuselage. This instantly reduced the firm's ability in the oversaturated commercial aircraft market. Further, the Department of Defense decided to remove McDonnell Douglas from the list of enterprises participating in the competition for the next generation fighter project for the US Air Force, whichcould bring in billions of dollars in profits. It was another devastating blow to the company.
The firm had no clear future prospects and entered into a dialogue with Boeing. As 1996 drew to a close, the two companies announced their merger, the largest in the history of the aircraft industry. In 1997, this deal was approved by the federal authorities.
After the merger of McDonnell Douglas and Boeing in August 1997, most experts thought that Boeing would stop making the MD-95. However, the concern decided to continue manufacturing the board, giving it a new name Boeing 717.
The car made its first flight in 1998 on September 8th. The first buyer was AirTran Airways. Gradually, the aircraft began to pay off. The performance of the Boeing 717 delighted airlines as it was fuel efficient, fast, spacious and cheaper to operate and maintain than its base competitor in the BAE 146 section of 100 local airliners.
The maintenance costs of the Boeing 717 were significantly different from those of its DC-9 series ancestors. For example, C-Check took only three days and had to be executed once every six thousand flight hours. DC-9 had this session for 21 days.
Finished production
After the September 11 attacks in 2001, the aviation industry experienced a severe downturn. In view of this, Boeing revised its plans for tomorrow. After lengthy discussions, the company decided to continue manufacturing the 717th model.
Aopponents in the 100-seater segment, meanwhile, were gaining market share. Difficulties with the 717 began in December 2003, when Air Canada canceled a $2.7 million deal with Boeing in favor of the 717's opponents, the Bombardier CRJ and Embraer E-Jet.
Referring to low demand, in January 2005, Boeing announced that it would discontinue production of the 717.
Flaws
If we examine the shortcomings of the 717 model, it becomes clear that the basic problem of the aircraft was the lack of unification with other families of Boeing aircraft. In particular, in the 90s, the Airbus concern set a new trend: it made the cabins and systems of the family of all types of its aircraft identical. It follows that retraining for a new type has become less expensive, faster and easier. Pilots can get permission to fly a whole family of aircraft, regardless of their parameters. This approach allows airlines to significantly reduce operating costs and more flexible distribution of crews.
Despite the fact that the operating costs of the Boeing 717 were 10% less than those of the Airbus A318, due to the lack of unification, the airlines suffered losses. Boeing adopted the doctrine of unification and, starting with the 737-Next Generation family, standardized the systems and cabins of all airliners.
The last Boeing 717 was manufactured in April 2006. Its buyer was AirTran Airways, the same company that bought it first.
