Goodbye RJ, Hello RJX

Asian Aerospace 2000 -- Orders for 33 Avro regional airliners over the next few weeks will wrap up production of the Avro RJ regional jet and officially launch the RJX follow-on airliner, it was learned here at Asian Aerospace.

Two "moderate" announcements here-one to an Asian airline and the other to an existing customer-will help eat into the 18 remaining Avro RJs on the production line that must be sold before the RJX can take over the reins.

Two or three more contracts-the first for the RJX and involving the entire first year's production of 15 aircraft-will be announced within the next couple of months. The deals are already initialed, but are awaiting BAE Systems' final go-ahead on the aircraft.

Meanwhile, progress can be seen on the four-engined RJX as the first two cockpit sections take form at Woodford, and their fuselage barrels begin construction at Filton. The aircraft's new Honeywell AS900 engine first flew on Jan 29 on a Boeing 720 testbed, and is meeting all milestones. The RJX is due to make its first flight in November, and enter service in July 2001.

Separately, wind tunnel testing and progress with the engine development have allowed BAE Systems to offer better than predicted performance, according to marketing vice-president Nick Godwin.
"Our final calculations show the Avro RJX to be about one percent better in fuel burn and one minute faster in block speed at 400 nmi than earlier predictions," he said.

The new Avro RJX family, powered by four Honeywell AS977 engines, offers up to 15% reduction in fuel burn, 20% reduction in engine maintenance costs and a 500 lb (227 kg) lower empty weight compared with the Avro RJ. This combination of improvements also allows up to a 17% increase in maximum range or a typical two tonne reduction in mission weights, giving significantly lower weight-related operating costs. Performance from demanding airfields such as London City, Florence and Aspen, where the Avro RJ already gives its operators a major competitive advantage, will be greatly improved with the Avro RJX.