So I am working on an project and the project covers on the replacement of the legendary Boeing 757 which has been in the market for the past over fifteen years. The cruise plane remains undistinguish

Replacement of Boeing 757

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Introduction

The Boeing 757 is a twin engine narrow airliner that was designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It was first manufactured in 1981 making its first flight in 1982. This plane was the largest plane that Boeing ever produced. It went forward to produce up to 1050 units until 2004 when it stopped producing more. There have been quite a number of versions of the Boeing 757. To be exact there were a total of seven built for different uses including for military uses. The 757-200 was produced with the intention of passenger transport and for businesses and could accommodate 194 passengers aboard. On charter service the plane can accommodate up to 239 passengers. 757-200M was mixed between passengers and cargo plane, 757-2000PF for package freight for the UPS, 757-200SF was a special freighter and Boeing VC-32A was developed to serve military purposes. The 757 plane was designed to be more efficient than its predecessor the Boeing 727 in operating cost. The 757 was therefore very good for commercial use and airlines bought it for passenger uses. It can carry between 200 and 295 passengers. Like any other aircrafts this model has had safe trips and also faced disturbances however these have been minimized over time. As at 2004, the model had been involved in only nine accidents and in comparison to other airlines this is a good record. Out of the 1050 planes produced, the 757-200 was the most popular version with 913 planes for commercial use by airliners.

Specifications

The Boeing 757 is a narrow body jet that operates with twin engines one on either of the wings. The engines are turbofan engines and this gives the airplane enough thrust to be able to take off on short runways (Shaw, 1995). The most used engines on the 757 are Pratt & Whitney PW2037 and PW2040. Another common engine is from manufacturers Rolls Royce where the jets used the models RB211-535C, RB211-535E4 and RB211-535E4-B (Hatfield, Johnson, Freyer & Slocum, 1997). The engines were very effective as they were able to provide the required thrust of between 160kN and 193.5kN that were required to fly the plane over long distances. The Boeing 757 has a fuel capacity of between 42680 and 43490 liters. Which is quite large compared to other aircrafts. With its fuel saving capability this jet can fly for longer distances without need for frequent stops for refueling.

The 757 planes were quite similar in many aspects and they only varied when it came to modifications due to their purposes. All 757 planes, for example, had a cockpit that had enough room for two crew members. The cockpit could also accommodate an observer. They also could accommodate about 200 seats for first class passengers and a slightly higher number for the second class passengers. The planes however had different cargo volumes according to the version and the intended purpose. The 757-200 version could carry cargo up to 43.3 cubic meters for it was a passenger plane and extra space was left for the passengers. The 757-200F could accommodate 187 cubic meters of cargo and the 757-300 could accommodate 61.7 cubic meters of cargo. The cabin width for all the planes was the same being 3.54 meters long. The planes’ cabins were also of the same size and the height of the planes was 13.6 meters (Shaw, 1995). However, there was one measurement that varied with the models. The length of the planes was different. For example the 757-200 and 757-200F were 47.3 meters long and the 757-300 was 54.4 meters long. The size of the planes’ wing span was however constant at 38 meters long and covered an area of about 1994 square feet. Further the sweepback of the wings for all the planes is at 25 degrees.

The planes however had different Maximum Takeoff Weight (MTOW). This is because they were made for different purposes and also some were modified to suit specific roles. For instance the 757 200 and 200F had a MTOW of 115,660 kilograms while the 757-300 had a different MTOW of 123,830 kilograms. However the maximum landing weight was different from the MTOW. The landing weight was lower than the 757-200 and 757-200F had a MLW of 92,250 kilograms. The 757-300 version however had a higher MLW of 101,600 kilograms (Hatfield, Johnson, Freyer & Slocum, 1997). Despite all these differences, the planes all had a cruise speed of 854 kilometer per hour and a maximum speed of 918 kilometers per hour. They also required an equal size of runway of about 2500 meters and they could fly at a maximum density attitude of 13000 meters.

Boeing 757 technical features

The Boeing 757, shared a home of production with other predecessors in Washington, United States at the Renton Factory. Half the planes structure was built in the Boeing factories but the engines were brought in from Rolls Royce Company (Birtles, 2001). After successful roll out there were orders from airlines and business started with a large order. It later went on to stagnate in the 1980s. This was because the companies preferred some smaller planes because they were cheaper to acquire. These smaller planes were also quicker to load and offload. With these smaller planes quick trips were assured and therefore more trips were made than while using the bigger 757 planes. However, with time the American airways ordered that the noise produced by planes had to be reduced as they were too many and too loud. This caused for airliners to reconsider the use 757 planes again and once again the order of the 757s rose all over again in the 1990’s (Shaw, 1995).

There are some features that made the Boeing 757 very distinct from the other planes of the time. Having two engines was a feature that was different at the time and quite unheard of. The plane had twin engines located at the wings. Some designs at the time had either three or four engines. Those that had three wings were designed in such a way that two engines were placed on the wings, one on each wing and a third engine on the tail. The planes with four engines were designed in such a way that the plane had two engines on each wing. The 757 had also improved the flight management system (Hatfield, Johnson, Freyer & Slocum, 1997). This made the work of pilots’ a lot easier and with time these improvements enabled them to tell whenever there was an issue with their aircrafts. The plane also had an added feature which enabled it to land automatically as it came with an automatic landing feature.

The 757 pilots were also qualified to fly the 767 planes. This is because, during the construction of 757s, 767s were ahead in the manufacturing. This allowed the manufacturers and designers to copy some designs from the 767. This was solely because some of the designs and technology was cheaper and more efficient. The pilots of 757 planes only had to pass a little test and they were qualified to fly the 767 planes. A trained 767 pilot however could easily fly a 757 plane. This was unlike other planes which could not share pilots as they had very different features. This feature also enabled airlines to save a lot of costs during the employing of pilots.

The Boeing 757 can be said to have saved a lot of weight and cut the weight of planes by a large amount. This was mainly attributed to the changes that had been made in the construction materials that were used. During its construction, there had been more advancements in the material industries and with these improved materials they were able to build more advanced aircrafts. The companies had developed lighter aluminum alloys that made the planes even lighter. For instance the wing skins were made of lighter aluminum material and this made the plane 275 kilograms lighter. Lighter graphite composites were also used on control surfaces this in turn saved over 450 kilograms in the weight of the plane (Hatfield, Johnson, Freyer & Slocum, 1997). There was also a reduction in the weight of the plane by 295 kilograms which can be explained by the change of brakes from traditionally used steel brakes to new carbon brakes. With this new light weight, these aircrafts became more efficient. In addition to these improvements brought by improved construction materials, the breaks also underwent changes. The carbon brakes now had a longer life and did not wear out as fast as the steel brakes that had been used initially (Birtles, 2001).

Boeing 757 operation

Most of 757 planes were used for passenger commercial purposes. The first 757 went in to the air on 19th February 1982 (Shaw, 1995). This however was just a flight as the first commercial 757 belonged to Eastern Air Lines and was introduced on 1st January 1983. Since then 1050 other 757 planes have been used for commercial uses by different companies over the years. The Boeing 757 planes were built for 57 customers. The primary users of the Boeing 757 being Delta Air Line, FedEx Express, United Airlines and UPS airlines. The delta Air Lines as of 2017 had a total of 128 passenger planes. However the largest number of 757’s at one time belonged to American Airlines with 142 planes in 2007.

The Boeing 757 as a replacement for other planes in the commercial business was meant to fly short trips carrying between 200 and 295 passenger. This is because it was more effective on short flights than the previous three engine planes. It saved a lot of fuel in general. The first airlines that acquired the jets used them for short and medium route flights. American airlines also used them transcontinental U.S flights. In 1986, after prolonged studies and observations, the 757 planes were approved to make long trips and extended trips over water. This opened up the airlines to use these planes for intercontinental trips. This also included transatlantic flights that required long hours of flight and a lot of fuel. This was an added advantages to airlines as they got to save a lot fuel cost.

The 757-200 planes cost around 65 million American dollars and the 757-300 cost 80 million American dollars (Birtles, 2001). However there are no newer prices as the Boeing ceased producing the 757 models in 2004. The 757 was built and designed to be more economical to other planes. The planes gave operators a 20 percent decrease in the price of fuel compared to Boeing 727. It could also take off with more cargo as the maximum takeoff weight of 727s was 4540 kilograms lesser than that of 757. It therefore allowed customers not only to carry more luggage but also at a lower operating cost. The 757 planes had more takeoff power and as an added advantage they could perform very well in hot climates and even take off on shorter runways (Hatfield, Johnson, Freyer & Slocum, 1997).

Boeing 757 body Layout

The Boeing 757 has a cockpit meant for only 2 pilots and an observer. The plane was therefore spaced for a maximum of 3 crew members. Just behind the cockpit is a kitchenette and washrooms that is meant to be used by the crew only. After this, there is the first and economy seating. Most of the time the 757 Boeings have a seating arrangement of three seats on each side of a narrow aisle. The first class section however, has two seats on each side of the aisle. This makes it very spacious and comfortable for passengers as they are regarded to be higher in the social ladder. At the back is the washrooms and a kitchenette for use by the passengers. However, on the special design planes such as cargo planes, there are changes that are made to the layout of the plane (Hatfield, Johnson, Freyer & Slocum, 1997). For example, in the 757-200SF, there is need for an extra door at the back to ease the process of loading and offloading. There is also need for many modifications to be made so as to fit the needs of cargo. There are modifications to be made in order to make animals and pets as comfortable as possible as minimal disturbance is expected when the plane is midair. Elsewhere the military 757s such as the Air Force two require special modifications to be made both for security purposes and to fit the needs of the members on board. There is need to set up various rooms, network and communication systems as these are key recommendations.

Boeing 757 Efficiency

Boeing 757s were designed as an improvement of the predecessors (Shaw, 1995). These were made for commercial use and therefore they had to be more efficient than the rest. There are various features that were changed that made them more efficient than the earlier version planes. The planes underwent a number of changes and these included change in the engines and the entire system. When the engines were changed it meant that after the upgrade these planes were now able to produce sufficient power enough to carry more weight. The fact that they could carry more weight meant that they could carry more load and hence were in a position to make more money. The new engines also needed lesser fuel than the other planes that required more input hence even higher operation costs. With the rise in prices of fuel, these planes were found to be more efficient and could save on the otherwise high previous costs.

Boeing 757s could also accommodate more people due to the large interior space. Despite being narrower than their predecessors, the 757s were longer and could therefore accommodate more passengers. The high number of passengers were also carried at a lower price per passenger for more passenger implied more income for the airline. This made the 757 planes to be the best passenger planes of their time as they were most cost effective and had lower operating cost at the time.

Boeing 757 could fly longer with less fuel. The two engines were very effective with the new developed technology at the time (Birtles, 2001). They therefore consumed less and produced a lot of power and thrust. This meant that the airlines could save a lot of money in fuel. Fuel is by far the highest operating cost of an airline. Saving costs of fuel meant that the planes made a lot of profit for the airline.

Two powerful engines made it both light and more powerful and the change left enough capacity to hold more cargo and weight. The planes’ new engines produced more power increasing the MOTW. The plane on the other hand had lesser weight and this meant that the plane could carry a lot more weight in terms of cargo. The 757-200M had enough power to carry passengers and even have enough power to carry cargo. The material make of the planes had also changed a lot with the new material of aluminum alloy being by far lighter than that of the predecessors. This made it very light and hence could carry more weight.

Higher pay load capability resulted from the longer size and it had more powerful engines that could produce more power than the predecessors. This meant that the airliners could earn more from carrying a lot of goods for lesser costs. Two engines saved more fuel than three and four engine design planes. In comparison, two engines consumed by far less fuel while travelling. This is despite producing more power than the three engines. It was quieter than previous jetliners (Shaw, 1995). There were some improvements made on the design of the plane. The change in shape of the nose of the plane changed the air flow over the plane and the engines were better and were not as noisy as the older version of the plane. This proved to be highly efficient to the airliners and reports of noise pollution reduced greatly.

References

Birtles, P. (2001). Boeing 757. Osceola, Wis: MBI Pub.

Hatfield, M. O., Johnson, M. D., Freyer, G. J., & Slocum, M. B. (1997). NASA Boeing 757 Cavity Field Variability Based on Boeing 757 and Boeing 707 Test Data. Doi: 10.21236/ada328539

Shaw, R. (1995). Boeing 757. Shrewsbury: Airlife.