Portal:Aviation/Selected Aircraft/future
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This page contains a list of future Selected Aircraft articles, and the nominations for ones beyond those. For past selected aircraft, please see the archive
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[edit] Future Selected Aircraft
[edit] December 2006
The Douglas DC-3 is a fixed-wing, propeller-driven aircraft which revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s, and is generally regarded as one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made.
The DC-3 was engineered by a team led by chief engineer Arthur E. Raymond and first flew on December 17, 1935 (the 32nd. anniversary of the Wright Brothers flight at Kitty Hawk). The plane was the result of a marathon phone call from American Airlines CEO C.R. Smith demanding improvements in the design of the DC-2. The amenities of the DC-3 (including sleeping berths on early models and an in-flight kitchen) popularized air travel in the United States. With just one refuelling stop, transcontinental flights across America became possible. Before the DC-3, such a trip would entail short hops in commuter aircraft during the day coupled with train travel overnight.
During World War II, many civilian DC-3s were drafted for the war effort and thousands of military versions of the DC-3 were built under the designations C-47, C-53, R4D, and Dakota. The armed forces of many countries used the DC-3 and its military variants for the transport of troops, cargo and wounded. Over 10,000 aircraft were produced (some as licensed copies in Japan as Showa L2D, and in the USSR as the Lisunov Li-2).
- Span: 95 ft (28.96 m)
- Length: 64 ft 5 in (19.65 m)
- Height: 16 ft 11 in (5.16 m)
- Engines: 2× Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp S1C3G 14-cylinder radial engines, 1,200 hp (895 kW)
- Cruising Speed: 170 mph (274 km/h)
- First Flight:December 17, 1935
- Number built: 13,140 (including license built types)
[edit] January 2007
The Airbus A380 is a double-deck, four-engined airliner manufactured by Airbus S.A.S. It first flew on April 27, 2005 from Toulouse, France. Commercial flights should begin in late 2006 after 15 months of testing, with the delivery of the first aircraft to launch, for one of Airbus's customers–Singapore Airlines. During much of its development phase, the aircraft was known as the Airbus A3XX, and the nickname Superjumbo has also become associated with the A380.
The A380 is double decked, with the upper deck extending along the entire length of the fuselage. This allows for a spacious cabin, with the A380 in standard three-class configuration to seat 555 people, up to maximum of 853 in full economy class configuration. Two models of the A380 will be available at launch. The A380-800, the passenger model, is the largest passenger airliner in the world superseding the Boeing 747. The other launch model, the A380-800F, will be a freight aircraft, and will be one of the largest freight aircraft after the Antonov An-225, An-124, and the C-5 Galaxy.
- Span: 79.8 m (261 ft 10 in )
- Length: 73 m (239 ft 6 in)
- Height: 24.1 m (79 ft 1 in )
- Engines: 4 * Rolls-Royce Trent 900 or Engine Alliance GP7200 (311 kN, 70,000 lbf)
- Cruising Speed: 0.85 Mach (approx 1050 km/h, 647 mph, 562 kt)
- First Flight: April 27, 2005
- Number built: 5 (159 ordered)
[edit] February 2007
Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde supersonic transport (SST), along with the Tupolev Tu-144, was one of only two models of supersonic passenger airliners to have seen commercial service.
Concorde had a cruise speed of Mach 2.02 (around 2170 km/h or 1,350 mph) and a maximum cruise altitude of 60,000 feet (18 300 metres) with a delta wing configuration and a reheat-equipped evolution of the engines originally developed for the Avro Vulcan strategic bomber. The engines were built by Rolls-Royce. Concorde was the first civil airliner to be equipped with an analogue fly-by-wire flight control system. Commercial flights, operated by British Airways and Air France, began on January 21, 1976 and ended on October 24, 2003, with the last "retirement" flight on November 26 that year.
Construction of the first two prototypes began in February 1965. Concorde 001 was built by Aerospatiale at Toulouse and Concorde 002 by BAC at Filton, Bristol. Concorde 001 took off for the first test flight from Toulouse on March 2, 1969 and the first supersonic flight followed on October 1. As the flight programme of the first development aircraft progressed, 001 started off on a sales and demonstration tour beginning on September 4, 1971. Concorde 002 followed suit in June 2, 1972 with a sales tour of the Middle and Far East. Concorde 002 made the first visit to the United States in 1973, landing at the new Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to commemorate its opening.
- Span: 84 ft 0 in (25.6 m).
- Length: 202 ft 4 in[2] (61.66 m)
- Height: 40 ft 0 in (12.2 m )
- Engines: 4× Rolls-Royce/SNECMA Olympus 593 Mk 610 afterburning turbojets
- Cruising Speed: Mach 2.04 (1,350 mph, 2,170 km/h)
- First Flight: March 2, 1969
- Number built: 20 (including prototypes)
[edit] March 2007
The Embraer ERJ-145 ia a regional jet which is produced by Embraer, a Brazilian aerospace company. The ERJ 145 is the largest of a family of airliners, which also includes the ERJ 135, ERJ 140, and Legacy.All aircraft in the series are powered by two turbofan engines. It is one of the most popular regional jet families in the world with primary competition coming from the Canadair Regional Jet.
The first flight of the ERJ 145 was on August 11, 1995, with the first delivery in December 1996 to ExpressJet Airlines (then the regional division of Continental Airlines). ExpressJet is the largest operator of the ERJ 145, with 270 of the nearly 1000 ERJ 145s in service. The second largest operator is American Eagle, with 206 ERJ 145 aircraft. Chautauqua Airlines also operates 95 ERJ 145s through its alliances with American Connection, Delta Connection, US Airways Express and United Express. By some accounts, the ERJ 145 has a cost of ownership of about $2,500,000 per year.
- Span: 20.04 m (65 ft 9 in)
- Length: 29.9 m (98 ft 0 in)
- Height: 6.76 m (22 ft 2 in)
- Engines: 2× Rolls-Royce AE 3007A turbofans, 33.0 kN (7,420 lbf) thrust each
- Cruising Speed: 834 km/h (518 mph, Mach 0.78)
- First Flight: August 11, 1995
- Number built: ≈1000
[edit] April 2007
The Supermarine Spitfire was a single-seat fighter used by the RAF and many Allied countries in World War II.
Produced by Supermarine, the Spitfire was designed by R.J. Mitchell, who continued to refine it until his death from cancer in 1937. The elliptical wing had a thin cross-section, allowing a faster top speed than the Hurricane and other contemporary designs; it also resulted in a distinctive appearance. Much loved by its pilots, the Spitfire saw service during the whole of World War II, in all theatres of war, and in many different variants.
More than 20,300 examples of all variants were built, including two-seat trainers, with some Spitfires remaining in service well into the 1950s. It was the only fighter aircraft to be in continual production before, during and after the war.
The aircraft was dubbed Spitfire by Sir Robert MacLean, director of Vickers (the parent company of Supermarine) at the time, and on hearing this, Mitchell is reported to have said, "...sort of bloody silly name they would give it." The word dates from Elizabethan times and refers to a particularly fiery, ferocious type of person, usually a woman. The name had previously been used unofficially for Mitchell's earlier F.7/30 Type 224 design.
The prototype (K5054) first flew on March 5, 1936, from Eastleigh Aerodrome (later Southampton Airport). Testing continued until May 26, 1936, when Mutt Summers (Chief Test Pilot for Vickers (Aviation) Ltd.) flew K5054 to Martlesham and handed the aircraft over to Squadron Leader Anderson of the Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE).
- Length: 29 ft 11 in (9.12 m)
- Wingspan: 36 ft 10 in (11.23 m)
- Height: 12 ft 8 in (3.86 m)
- Number Built: 20,351 (excluding Seafires)
- Maximum speed: 330 knots (378 mph, 605 km/h)
- Maiden flight: March 5, 1936
- Powerplant: 1× Rolls-Royce Merlin 45 supercharged V12 engine, 1470 hp at 9250 ft (1096 kW at 2820 m)
[edit] May 2007
The de Havilland Canada DHC-8, popularly the Dash 8, is a series of twin-turboprop airliners designed by de Havilland Canada in the early 1980s. They are now made by Bombardier Aerospace which purchased DHC from Boeing in 1992. Since 1996 the aircraft have been known as the Q Series, for "quiet", due to installation of the Active Noise and Vibration Suppression (ANVS) system designed to reduce cabin noise and vibration levels to near those of jet airliners.
Notable features of the Dash 8 design are the large T-tail intended to keep the tail free of propwash during takeoff, a very high aspect ratio wing, the elongated engine nacelles also holding the rearward-folding landing gear, and the pointed nose profile. First flight was in 1983, and the plane entered service in 1984 with NorOntair. Piedmont Airlines (formerly Henson Airlines) was the US launch customer for the Dash 8 in 1984.
The Dash 8 design had better cruise performance than the earlier Dash 7, but was less expensive to operate, and more notably, much less expensive to maintain. The Dash 8 had the lowest costs per passenger mile of any feederliner of the era. The only disadvantage compared to the earlier Dash 7 was somewhat higher noise levels, but only in comparison as the Dash 7 was notable in the industry for extremely low noise due to its four very large and slow-turning propellers.
- Length: 107 ft 9 in (32.84 m)
- Wingspan: 93 ft 3 in (32.84 m)
- Height: 27 ft 5 in (8.34 m)
- Powerplant: 2× Pratt & Whitney Canada PW150A turboprops, 5,071 shp (3,781 kW) each
- Cruise speed: 360 knots (414 mph, 667 km/h)
- Maiden Flight: June 20, 1983
[edit] June 2007
Portal:Aviation/Selected Aircraft/June 2007
[edit] July 2007
Portal:Aviation/Selected Aircraft/July 2007
[edit] August 2007
Portal:Aviation/Selected Aircraft/August 2007
[edit] September 2007
Portal:Aviation/Selected Aircraft/September 2007
[edit] October 2007
Portal:Aviation/Selected Aircraft/October 2007
[edit] November 2007
Portal:Aviation/Selected Aircraft/November 2007
[edit] December 2007
Portal:Aviation/Selected Aircraft/December 2007
[edit] Nominations
These are the nominations for Selected Aircraft. The current selection is September 2006. Voting closes on July 1st. All unselected nominations and votes will be carried forwards to the next round of voting, for October 2006. Users may vote for multiple aircraft. Please don't forget to sign your comments.
- For now, we are just adding anything. This will be implemented later.
My list for future aircraft (just a start up to the H's):
