Bombardier C-Séries (partie 1)

Bombardier Aéronautique a annoncé aujourd’hui que le système hydraulique de ses tout nouveaux avions CSeries a été mis en service sur l’« Avion 0 »* – le banc d’essai au sol de la Société. Avec le système électrique, mis en service plus tôt cette année, le système hydraulique permettra une validation améliorée des essais des systèmes intégrés de la gamme d’avions CSeries avant le premier vol. Cette étape importante permet maintenant le fonctionnement des systèmes d’actionnement des surfaces de commande de vol, des inverseurs de poussée et du train d’atterrissage.
La mise en service concluante du système hydraulique a été soutenue par Parker Aerospace – fournisseur à forfait du programme de travaux lié au système hydraulique – et d’autres fournisseurs de structures et de systèmes qui ont livré les composants et les pièces de tuyauterie installés dans l'ensemble de l’avion.
« L’enthousiasme dans le développement des avions CSeries continue de croître avec l’évolution de l’« Avion 0 » et nous permet de recueillir plus de données dans des domaines complexes – notamment pendant notre préparation à l’alimentation des systèmes de vol. La mise en service du système hydraulique de l’« Avion 0 » nous fait progresser dans le calendrier en vue du vol inaugural d’un avion CSeries », a déclaré Rob Dewar, vice-président et directeur général, CSeries, Bombardier Avions commerciaux. « Chaque semaine, les essais et la livraison de composants et systèmes clés de nos fournisseurs du monde entier contribuent à faire des avions CSeries une réalité. La démarche de collaboration en gestion de la chaîne d’approvisionnement génère des avantages concrets et des résultats exceptionnels dans cette progression, à mesure que les systèmes sont mis en service pour la validation au sol. »
Également connu sous le nom du Centre d’essai intégré des systèmes avion, l’« Avion 0 » est installé à l’usine de la Société à Mirabel (Québec), à 40 km au nord de Montréal. Les systèmes continueront d’entrer progressivement en service tout au long de l’année afin de nous assurer d’effectuer la validation continue des avions au sol, avant les essais en vol.

Bombardier is offering CSeries customers the option of selecting ultra-slim ‘super economy’ seats – with seat pitches set as low as 28in – from the twinjet’s catalogue, in addition to less high-density economy-class seating arrangements.

“We’ve been able to allow pitch down to 28in by contouring the seats,” Bombardier VP CSeries Rob Dewar tells the APEX editor’s blog.

He explains that, because the economy-class seats on the five abreast (2 + 3), 110/130-seat CSeries will be wider than traditional narrowbody seats – 18.5in for window and aisle, and 19in for the middle seat – “you can ‘carve away’ in the knee area and in ‘super economy’ we gain two inches of seat pitch for the same comfort level. In fact, 28in pitch will feel like 30in, although standard pitch is 32in”.

By comparison, seats aboard the Airbus A320 are 18in in width, whilst seats aboard the Boeing 737 are 17in (though Airbus has worked with B/E Aerospace to develop a new 17in, 17in, 20in triple to accommodate passengers of size, and provide airlines with more ancillary revenue opportunities).

“If you benchmark any seat, including the 19in middle seat [on the CSeries], which is wider than any other aircraft on the market, or the distance from the passenger’s shoulder to the window in the outside seat, you’ll find we have the most personal space of any aircraft, including twin-aisles,” says Dewar.

“And if you look at our seats, the space, the windows, the technology and connectivity, you’ll see that we’ve pushed the frontier on all aspects of passenger comfort.”

Inflight technology and passenger services consultant Michael Planey believes that larger passengers will notice the width advantage of the CSeries seats, especially the middle seat of the triple.

“It’s an acknowledgment that Bombardier understands the centre seat is less comfortable. As the centre passenger you’re always fighting over armrests, but an inch of extra width makes a real difference,” he says.

C&D Zodiac holds the contract to design and produce the interiors package for the CSeries. Asked whether airlines will be able to go outside the catalogue for premium seating, Dewar answers in the affirmative, saying: “Customers are ultimately responsible for selecting the configuration of their aircraft. This includes the type of seats they select, but all customers appear satisfied with the options we’re providing.”

Bombardier has also added two inches of aisle width, allowing passengers to pass with ease, and airlines to speed up loading and unloading, according to the airframer. The wider aisle also allows for easier access by wheelchair users and the lavatories have been designed to be fully accessible, it notes.

Offering state-of-the-art inflight entertainment and connectivity on the CSeries is important to Bombardier. Embedded IFE systems from Panasonic Avionics and Thales are offered as part of the catalogue, but, Dewar says, “We listen to our customers and we’ll add suppliers as the market demands.”

Bombardier will offer Ku-band, (forthcoming) Ka-band, L-band and Gogo air-to-ground (ATG)-supported connectivity options; customers will be able to pick the most suitable supplier from the aircraft catalogue, it says.

Planey says Bombardier gains a major advantage by offering customers this flexibility and choice. “The standard of IFE and connectivity will be key to the success of the airplane in terms of passenger acceptance.”

Meanwhile, CSeries systems are coming together in a Complete Integrated Aircraft Systems Test Area (CIASTA), which will act as a virtual CSeries in advance of first flight of the first true flying test bed aircraft.

Aiming for a step improvement in service-entry reliability, Bombardier is installing a full cabin in CIASTA, including heating and cooling, pressurisation systems (limited on the ground for safety), waste and water systems, and seats and IFE, though the latter will be primarily tested for fit and function since satellite capture rate and other data can only be fully explored in-flight.

The cabin environment of CIASTA will ready by year-end. Testing will continue through 2013, with dummy “passengers” introduced early on in the process.

Dewar has no doubt that the CSeries will offer a superior passenger experience to competing aircraft. And he is keen to reiterate Bombardier’s determination to set a new cabin standard based on passenger expectations. “The fuselage is based on seat width, shoulder height at the windows, floor space and cabin height. This gave us four blended circles and we were able to design a complex cross-section optimised for each of these parameters.”

Admin a écrit: ... une config haute densité où l'on échange un surplus de largeur d'assise pour une réduction du pas -> 28" ! Argumentaire intéressant, n'est ce pas Frequent Traveller ? ...

The head of Bombardier Inc.’s new CSeries program remains on track with a deadline set for the end of June for all of the aircraft’s various systems to be delivered for testing.

Robert Dewar, CSeries general manager, said in an interview Tuesday he hopes the synchronized testing of those systems will begin at the company’s state-of-the-art facility at Mirabel, Que., by July 10.

By September, all of the structural parts and components will also be delivered to Montreal, and by the end of December, the first test flight aircraft is expected to be assembled, the company said.

Bombardier says that some of its CSeries suppliers have had “more challenges” than others delivering components on time for the new aircraft program, the manufacturer’s Commercial Aircraft President Mike Arcamone told reporters during a pre-Farnborough air show briefing.

“We are currently working with suppliers to find the challenges. We have put the right amount of resources to address that; we have mitigation plans in place,” added Arcamone.

But while Arcamone did not give a precise date for first flight, which has been scheduled for the end of 2012, he noted that in spite of the supplier issues “we want to fly into the new year.”

Arcamone also stressed that the more important milestones are first delivery of the CS100 by the end of 2013 and the larger CS300 by the end of 2014.

“We work margins every hour every day. We are working towards the milestones. With the information I have this morning we are on track,” he said.

According to Arcamone, major structures are in “advanced assembly” and “suppliers are making significant progress” and are “demonstrating that they are meeting our requirements.” He also noted that the key performance targets for the aircraft have been confirmed.

Bombardier has identified four areas to address ahead of first flight of its CS100, with Arcamone noting that the current focus is getting key structural components, supplier testing, systems maturity and in-house testing and simulations ready for the start of final assembly and production ramp-up.

Bombardier expects to have the first static test airframe ready by the end of September, followed by completion of the first flight test aircraft in December, with the major aircraft structures ready several months ahead of that. According to Bombardier, the CS100/CS300 still is on budget and the cash burn is within the previously defined limits.

The manufacturer plans to use five aircraft in the CS100 flight test program, plus another two for the CS300 version.

Bombardier's back-up plan to deliver the first production aircraft on time hinges on the performance of Aircraft Zero, a highly-integrated "iron bird" in the airframer's completed aircraft integrated systems test area.

Aircraft Zero integrates a fully-functional flight control system with roll, pitch and yaw axes for both left- and right-hand sides of the airframe, using hydraulic actuators to simulate normal flight loads on the control surfaces. The test rig includes all of the CSeries major systems, including landing gear, avionics, hydraulics and electrical systems.

Bombardier has agreed in principle with certification authorities to receive certification credit for more than 20,000h of planned simulations aboard Aircraft Zero, Dewar says, but the details are still being negotiated.

Any amount of credit awarded to the Aircraft Zero simulations would reduce the number of flight hours required for certification, he adds, and indicates that the programme could use such credits to offset any delays to the first flight schedule.