Atr 42 Twin Turboprop Passenger Aircraft, Europe
The ATR 42-500 is one of a family of twin turboprop passenger aircraft developed and manufactured by Avions de Transport Regional (ATR). ATR, with headquarters in Toulouse, is a joint venture company between EADS and Finmeccanica / Alenia Aeronautica.
The family consists of the ATR 42 and ATR 72, of which the ATR 42-500 and ATR 72-500 are the models currently in production.
The -500 series new generation aircraft is equipped with new engines, new propellers, improved hot and high performance, increased weight capacity and an improved passenger cabin. The 50-seat ATR 42-500 was first certificated in July 1995.
ATR has received orders for 839 aircraft and 713 aircraft have been delivered. (ATR 42, 401 ordered and 390 delivered: ATR 72, 438 ordered and 323 delivered). The ATR aircraft are in service with 126 operators in 74 countries.
Recent orders for the ATR 42 include: Finncomm Airlines (eight plus eight options), Air Caledonie (two) and Air Madagascar (one), placed in June 2005, Pakistan International Airlines (seven), placed in November 2005 and Precision Air of Tanzania (three) in August 2006.
A variant for maritime patrol, the ATR 42MP Surveyor, is in service with the Italian Guardia di Finanza (three aircraft) and Coast Guard (two aircraft). The Surveyor can be fitted with search radar, Galileo Avionica mission system, Elettronica Electronic Support Measures (ESM), Forward-Looking Infrared (FLIR) and TV camera. The aircraft can spend up to eight hours on station, at 200nm from base.
The ATR 42-500 is certified to operate on unpaved runways through installation of a kit to ensure landing gear and lower fuselage protection. Special cold weather procedures allow operation down to – 54°C.
The ATR aircraft family is certified for low external noise performance according to FAR Part 36 and CH3 ICAO Annex 16, ensuring compliance well within the current and CH.4 noise regulations.
Atr 42 aircraft design
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aircraft is a high-wing monoplane with a semi-monocoque fail-safe
fuselage built of light alloy. Composite materials, such as carbon
monolithic structure, carbon / Nomex sandwich and Kevlar / Nomex
sandwich, are extensively used and represent 19 % of the total weight
of the structure.
Alenia Aeronautica is responsible for the manufacture of fuselage, tail units and installation of landing gear. The wings are manufactured and tested at EADS Sogerma, in Bordeaux. ATR has full responsibility for final assembly and delivery to customers.
Arj21 Regional Jet Aircraft, China
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ARJ21 regional jet is being developed by the AVIC I Commercial
Aircraft Company (ACAC), based in Shanghai, which is a consortium of
six companies and aerospace research institutes carrying out the
development and manufacture of the aircraft.
The aircraft performance parameters meet the diverse and demanding conditions in China, including the hot-and-high altitude conditions in Western China. The aircraft has a powerful take-off and climbing performance to allow the use of basic airports with short runways.
Final assembly began in March 2007 and the first flight of the aircraft is scheduled for March 2008 with certification by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) in 2009. A launch order has been received for 35 aircraft, for Shandong Airlines (ten), Shanghai Airlines (five) and Shenzhen Financial Leasing (20). In November 2006, Shanghai Electric Leasing (SE Leasing) signed a memorandum of understanding for 30 aircraft.
The ACAC consortium, formed in 2002, includes the Shanghai Aircraft Research Institute and the Xian Aircraft Design and Research Institute, and several aerospace companies: Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group, which is responsible for the construction of the nose; Shanghai Aircraft Company, which will carry out final assembly; Shenyang Aircraft Corporation, which is manufacturing the empennage58 (complete tail unit); and Xian Aircraft Company, which is responsible for manufacturing the aircraft wings and fuselage.
The ARJ21 advanced regional jet was awarded State Council approval in 2002. The first phase of the program is directed to the development of the baseline passenger version with 70 to 80 seats. The development will then progress to the stretched version (90 to 100 seats), standard range and extended range versions, including all passenger, freight and business jet variants.