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Pratt & Whitney Media Day is this week, which is a perfect excuse to post this excellent BBC documentary of Rolls-Royce. (Editor: Eh?) Bear with me, please.

We are not suggesting it's appropriate only due to the fact we can find no comparable documentaries on Pratt & Whitney, and not even because we are enthralled by such a revealing look inside the typically buttoned-up on Rolls-Royce (motto: "No comment. Full-stop. Forever.")

It actually is a timely peek inside Rolls-Royce on the eve of a Pratt & Whitney media day, where surely a major theme of press conferences and interviews will be the newly-sealed long-term relationship between these propulsion giants on narrowbody turbofans.

If you recall, last October Pratt & Whitney agreed to buy Rolls-Royce's stake in the International Aero Engines (IAE) consortium, which also includes MTU and Japanese Aero Engines Corp, producing V2500s for Airbus A320s. At the same time, Rolls-Royce formed a new joint venture with Pratt & Whitney to challenge another powerful joint venture -- the General Electric-Safran partnership in CFM International -- for the next-generation single-aisle turbofan market.    

Today, perhaps more than ever, the future of Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce are tied closely together.

All that said, this documentary is so good any old excuse would do. Enjoy!
737Max.JPG[Editor's note: Filing this aboard an American Airlines 737-700, DCA-DFW. Will post updates as possible. Technically-speaking, I'm supposed to be on vacation!]

Boeing has decided to adopt a 20.3cm (8in) nose gear extension and control the spoilers using fly-by-wire among other design changes revealed today for the 737 Max family.

The company's announcement clarifies several key design features first discussed by Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and chief executive Jim Albaugh in November.


Albaugh had previously said the nose-gear extension could range between 15.2-20.3cm, accommodating the larger diameter of the CFM Interanational Leap 1B engine. CFM has initially sized the engine with a 1.74m-wide fan, but the precise dimensions could change before the design is frozen in the fourth quarter.

By using the maximum extension in the trade study, Boeing potentially opens the door to slightly increasing the diameter of the turbofan. The longer nose gear also means Boeing must alter the door.

Meanwhile, the new 737 Max will be integrated into the wing in a design similar to the 787, the company adds.

All flight controls will remain mechanically-driven except for the spoilers, which will be based on fly-by-wire inputs, Boeing says. The 737 Max also will adopt an "electronic bleed air system", which is also used on the Airbus A350. The electronic bleed air system can reduce fuel burn by improving cabin pressurization and anti-icing systems without adopting the 787's bleed-less architecture.

Boeing also is extending the 737's tail cone and thickening the section above the elevator for the re-engined variant.

Finally, Boeing also could slightly change the wingtips of the 737 Max, but the company provided no details. A revised design is being tested in a wind tunnel, Boeing says.

737 Max-Albaugh Slide-thumb-560x420-145570.jpg






When I sat down to think about the remaining thirteen and a half weeks of 2010, it became immediately apparent how pivotal this time will be for the future of commercial and business aviation. Decisions from Boeing, Airbus, Embraer, Bombardier and Gulfstream will shape the industry in 2011 and 2012 in the near term, but these same decisions could guide commercial and business aerospace for the next decade to come.

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