Wide-body aircraft

A wide-body aircraft (English widebody, literally translated, Wide Body ', or twin aisle, two courses ' ) is an airliner with more than five meters trunk diameter and at least two courses in the passenger cabin.

In the production of wide-body aircraft is a duopoly of Boeing and Airbus.

History of development

The first wide-body aircraft were the Boeing 747, the McDonnell Douglas DC -10 and the Lockheed L -1011 TriStar. Later came the first plane to the European manufacturer Airbus A300 on the market, thus establishing a first rival bid against U.S. dominance. The Ilyushin Il- 86, the first Soviet wide-body aircraft was designed to meet the expected growth in air traffic. In addition to those comprising the family of widebody aircraft today, the Boeing 767, the Boeing 777, the Boeing 787, the McDonnell Douglas MD -11, the types produced by Airbus A310, A330, A340 and A380, as well as the Russian Ilyushin Il -96.

Benefits

In comparison to aircraft with a transition, such as the single-aisle aircraft, the great body diameter provides a number of advantages:

  • The aisle / row ratio accelerates the entry and exit process and thus dispatching the machine.
  • The passengers have the wide body a much more generous sense of space and the passenger compartment will no longer appear as a tube.
  • With increasing body diameter the volume of the air-blown surface, however, increases as the square, only linearly. Thus, the air resistance per passenger is lower, but this is tempered by the higher proportion of the two courses at the cabin width and the poor use of the height of the cabin again.
  • The length of the aircraft is less than that of a narrow-body aircraft with the same passenger capacity. This reduces the risk that the tail -off or landing touches (so-called Tailstrike ). However, there is this problem continues in wide-body aircraft, which are very long ( A340 -600 or B777- 300ER ).

Disadvantages

  • The passenger capacity of wide-body aircraft can not be reduced as far as airplanes with conventional hull shape as the hull can not be greatly reduced, as would be required for it.
  • Widebody aircraft are used economically only on routes with a correspondingly high number of passengers.
  • The middle rows of seats are felt straight over long distances of many passengers because of the lack of a window ( natural light, perception of the environment and their effects on the flight, distraction) as a restriction of their own comfort.

Summary

Overall allow widebody higher passenger numbers at lower transport costs per passenger ( economies of scale ). First they have made intercontinental air travel for the masses affordable.

Others

The Airbus A300 and A310, and Ilyushin Il -86 are still the only wide-body aircraft, which were designed for short and medium distances, all others belong to the categories of medium and long- haul aircraft.

Widebody aircraft usually come to a maximum takeoff weight of over 136 tons and produce strong wake turbulence. Therefore, it is in radio communication with airports usual to attach the note to the heavy callsign. They also ask the pilot some flying experience. The airline Emirates, for example, calls for 4,000 flight hours, including 2,000 hours in a multi - crew aircraft for a first officer. In the air cargo sector, the requirements are somewhat lower. So at Lufthansa Cargo are 1000 hours on jet or turboprop aircraft as a qualification.

Future

By tended to significantly higher capacity wide-body aircraft are more economical than single-aisle aircraft. Widebody aircraft are used wherever it justifies the traffic. Even widebody aircraft with only " medium-sized " capacity (but long range ) such as the Boeing 767 have a market, as well as aircraft with the greatest capacity, such as the Airbus A380. Single-aisle aircraft will be more likely in distribution transport, used in medium range with low to medium traffic and low cost airlines. In the short and medium-haul routes are wide-body aircraft, unlike in the 1970s and 1980s, as the Airbus A300 and Airbus A310 were built and developed, not usually asked. They are there to the airlines usually large, because the number of passengers usually not enough for several rounds of these jets per day on a route.

For very large body diameter, it is possible to accommodate the passengers on two decks. The Boeing 747 made ​​a beginning with a small " hump" for the cockpit and a small passenger cabin, and the Airbus A380 completes this by a continuous second deck through the entire fuselage with nearly elliptical cross section.

Currently, the Airbus A350, a new and more efficient widebody aircraft in development.

Specifications

Maximum take-off weight

Main passenger plane

Upper passenger plane

Main passenger plane

Main passenger plane ( seat width)

8 pitches ( 17.0 " wide) in 2-4-2 on LH

8 pitches ( 17.5 " wide) in 2-4-2 on NW

9 places ( 17.7 " wide) in 3-3-3 planned

5.92 m

10 pitches ( 18.1 " wide) in 3-4-3 on QF

10 pitches ( 18.0 " wide) in 3-4-3 on EK

3:45 m

10 pitches ( 17.2 " wide) in 3-4-3 on NW

7 pitches ( 17.0 " wide) in 2-3-2 on U.S.

9 places ( 17.9 " wide) in 3-3-3 on CO

10 pitches ( 17.0 " wide) in 3-4-3 on AF

9 places ( 17.2 " wide) in 3-3-3 planned

Emirates (airline) Air India Northwest Airlines Continental Airlines Aeroflot KLM Trijet
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