The Impact of Boeing B737 on Commercial Airplane Development

PRANSAC ASSIGNMENT 1 ‘Using the B737 as an aircraft type, you are required to research on the inventions and innovations that have made this particular aircraft impact the development of the Commercial airplane. ’

Introduction

Aircraft The Boeing B737 is a short to medium wide range narrow body twin-engine body jet airliner. Originally designed in 1964, initially had its first maiden voyage in 1967 and joined into professional service in 1968. Company Boeing had been the number one professional plane company. This company controls 60% of a competitive commercial market and its professional aircraft goods and services account for more than 70% of Boeing's income. Boeing's products symbolize a complete family of jetliners in the variety of travelers and freight adjustments and wide-ranging abilities. The B737 has developed different series such as B737 Original, B737 Classic, B737 New Generation, and the newest Series 737 MAX. The Boeing 737 is the best-selling jetliner in aviation history.

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Idea

In 1958 Boeing had design research for "A twin-engine feeder airliner to complete the family of Boeing passenger jets". In Feb 1965 the first purchase was placed and the project went ahead. The 737 has since become the best-selling professional planes in planes record with more than 5,900 purchases from 225 clients so far. < Chris Brady. 1999. > Design Boeing wanted to design a real short-haul jet to compete with its competitors like the Caravelle, BAC One-Eleven & DC-9. However, they are way behind them. The DC-9 was about to fly, the One-Eleven was well into its flight test program and the Caravelle had been in service for 5 years.

They had some catching up to do. Designers Joseph Sutter and Jack Steiner began work on the 737 in November 1964. The original 1964 specification was for a capacity of about 60-85 passengers, an economical operating range of between 100 and 1000 miles and to be able to stay equal at a 35% load factor. As a result of final design talks with launch customer Lufthansa, the capacity was increased to 100, but the range and load factor figures still remain the same. < Chris Brady. 1999. > Invention/Innovation of the aircraft

Placing the Engines

Wing Mounted Engines

The wing-mounted engines provided the key benefits of decreased interference drag, a better C of G position, less noisy cabin, more useful cabin space at the back, front & aft side doors, easier access to engines for servicing, and required less pipework for fuel & bleed. The bodyweight of the engine also provides twisting comfort from the rise of the wings. Apparently this benefit was over-estimated and a set of wings were unsuccessful in static tests at 95% of the max load so the side had to be remodeled.

Disadvantage

The disadvantage of wing-mounted engines was that the size of the fin had to be increased for engine-out operation over centerline thrust aircraft. Also, due to the reduced ground clearance, the engines had to be almost an essential part of the wing, which in turn using a short chord. The engines extended both forward and aft of the wing to reduce aerodynamic interference and the straighter top line of the nacelle formed a streamline flow over the wing to further reduce drag. iii. Advantage Overall, the wing-mounted layout had a weight saving of 700Kgs over the equivalent “T-tail” design and had performance advantages.

Thrust Reversers

Thrust reversers were taken from B727 were found to be inefficient when used by the B737. Therefore B737’s thrust reversers were greatly improved, allowing the aircraft to land on shorter airstrips.

Type Of engine

The CFM56-3B-1 turbofan engine was chosen to power the aircraft, which yielded significant gains in fuel economy and a reduction in noise, but also posed an engineering challenge given the low ground clearance of the 737 and the larger diameter of the engine over the original Pratt and Whitney engines which were used for the earlier models such as the -100 and the -200.

However, overtime noise became an issue and many users opted for an alternative engine. As a result, Boeing and engine supplier CMFI solved the problem by placing the engine ahead of the wing, and by moving engine accessories to the sides of the engine pod, giving the engine a distinctive non-circular air intake.

Fuselage

The B737’s fuselage was especially one of its best-selling points. Its cross-section had been taken from the B727. More Space, more passengers This made the B737 to hold 6 wide abreast seats because this way it could take more passengers per load on board than its competitors.

In the B737 Classic series and the B737 Next Generation Series, the fuselage was lengthened to fulfill the demand for space in the aircraft and also help Boeing sustain its competitiveness in the aviation industry. Even More Space, more passengers In the B737 Original series, the fuselage was only able to contain the highest possible of 130 passengers in 737-200 while the B737 Classic series was improved and enhanced to provide for bigger and more economical aircraft. As such, the aircraft’s fuselage was prolonged to allow about 170 passengers on board.

B737 Next Generation

The B737 Next Generation series had even more changes to its uses. In commercial flying, the airplane’s fuselage was prolonged to allow the highest possible of 215 passengers on board. The B737 Next Generation also had its own business jet, BBJ1 and BBJ2 series and military aircraft, C-40 and AEW&C, series. The BBJ was regularly used by personal jet entrepreneurs, and organizations, because of its small dimension and fuel efficiency. The military series of the B737 encompass the AEW&C that is used for monitoring and radar operations, and the C-40, P-8 Poseidon, which assisted in military operations.

 Wings Changes had been made to the wings and the flight controls of the B737. Many improvements result in greater performance of the aircraft by generating more lift, increase in fuel efficiency, and reduce drag while most importantly being more economical.

Wings Extended

The B737-100 and B737-200 created too much drag for the aircraft, making it very costly to fly. Thus, the front flaps of the wings were extended towards the fuselage, providing greater lift and shorten the distance for the aircraft required to take off. The wing’s leading edge and p were also extended.

This is because when the leading edge is being extended, the upper chamber will be pushed forward towards the leading edge and thus makes the airflow on the upper camber have a higher airspeed and as a result create more lift, due to the decrease in static pressure.

Composite Material

The B737’s flight controls were mostly made of composite material instead of aluminum alloy to reduce the weight of the aircraft. To generate more lift and greater performance during cruising.

Winglets were added from the B737-700 model onwards and the B737-300. Winglets reduce induced drag caused by the vortex on the wingtips.

Fly-by-wire system control In the B737 MAX, it has integrated the new fly-by-wire system control to allow for the more efficient performance of the aircraft. Fly-by-wire (FBW) is a system that replaces the conventional manual flight controls of an aircraft with an electronic interface. The movements of flight controls are converted to electronic signals transmitted by wires. The fly-by-wire system also allows automatic signals sent by the aircraft's computers to perform functions without the pilot's input, as in systems that automatically help stabilize the aircraft.

Conclusion

Thus the B737 is able to generate more lift and reduce drag on the aircraft. Therefore the B737 is able to move faster and increase fuel efficiency, reducing cost and fuel. Allowing Boeing to have a greater advantage in the competitive Aviation Industry. Conclusion Over the years, Invention and Innovation of the aircraft such as the fuselage, wing, engine, and nacelles, the B737 was able to have sustainable growth. This allowed Boeing to stay ahead of its competitors. These results in having more Boeing planes chosen by airlines compared to other domestic carriers.

Currently, Boeing faces significant competition from its rival Airbus A320. While trying hard not to lose out, Boeing made improvements such as the new B737 Max series, which combines the use of more high-tech devices to help Boeing compete with the Airbus bus latest series, the A320 Neo. However, the B737 MAX is only due in 2017 and it is in its last levels of examination. As such, this gives Boeing the time to enhance and completely improve the abilities of the B737 MAX to help improve its durability later on improvements. Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2017.

References

Chris Brady. History & Development of the Boeing 737. " History & Development of the Boeing 737. N. p. , Sept. 1999. Web. 27 June 2012. <http://www. b737. org. uk/history. htm>.

"Fly by Wire. " Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 23 June 2012. Web. 28 June 2012. <http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Fly_by_wire>. "Boeing 737 - American Flyers. " Boeing 737 - American Flyers. N. p. , n. d. Web. 28 June 2012. <https://www. americanflyers. net/airplanes/boeing_737. htm>.

"Boeing 737RE. " Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 27 June 2012. Web. 28 June 2012. <http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Boeing_737RE>.

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