Trijet

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Trijet
Boeing 727-200 Advanced of Champion Airlines at Los Angeles

A trijet is an aircraft powered by three jet engines. Early twin-jet designs were limited by the FAA's 60-minute rule, whereby the flight path of twin-engine jetliners was restricted to within 60 minutes' flying time from a suitable airport, in case of engine failure. In 1964, this rule was lifted for trijet designs, as they had a greater safety margin. This led to a flurry of trijet designs, which by 1980 had become the most popular airliner configuration.

In general, passenger airline trijets are considered to be second generation jet airliners, due to their innovative engine locations, in addition to the advancement of turbofan technology.

Other variations of three-engine designs are trimotors, which are aircraft with three piston engines.

History

The Hawker Siddeley Trident featured an S-duct.
The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 did away with the S-duct design, instead positioning the engine straight through the tail.
Rossiya Tupolev Tu-154 trijet landing
The Dassault Falcon 900 business jet

The first three-jet designs to fly were the Hawker Siddeley Trident (1962) and the Boeing 727 (1963). Both were compromises to meet airline requirements. In the case of the Trident to meet BEA's changing needs, for the 727 to be acceptable for three different airlines. Although collaboration between the manufacturers was considered, it did not come about.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, three was the most common number of engines on US jet airlines, making up a majority of all such aircraft in 1980. From 1985 to 2003 the number of such planes in service has sunk from 1488 to 602. The number of twin-jets has more than quadrupled in the same period.[1]

One issue with trijets is positioning the central engine. On most trijets they are placed at the tail along the middle, producing some technical difficulties. The central engine is most commonly supplied with air by an S-shaped duct – this is used on the Hawker Siddeley Trident, Boeing 727, Tupolev Tu-154, and Lockheed Tristar and is a complicated and costly design. The DC-10 and MD-11 use an alternative "straight" layout, which allows for easier engine installation, modification, and access, however, has inferior aerodynamic properties when compared to the S-duct designs. One major advantage of the trijet design is that the wings can be located further aft on the fuselage, allowing main cabin exit and entry doors to be more centrally located for quicker embarkation and disembarkation, ensuring shorter turnaround times. The rear-mounted engine and wings also shift the aircraft's center of gravity rearwards, improving fuel efficiency, although this will also make the plane slightly less stable and more difficult to handle during takeoff and landing.

The main disadvantage with trijets is fuel efficiency, as a trijet design will almost always consume more fuel than a comparable twin engine design. This results in higher operating costs and reduced range. Although trijets are more efficient than four-engine aircraft, the difficulty and complexity of mounting the center engine through the tail will somewhat negate this advantage.

Modern engines have extremely low failure rates and increased power output. This makes twinjets more suitable for long-haul overwater operation, resulting in eased ETOPS restrictions. Having more than two engines is no longer considered necessary, except for very large aircraft such as the Antonov An 225, Airbus A380, and Boeing 747.

McDonnell Douglas had planned a new series of DC-10 family trijets called the MD-XX, which were lengthened versions of the MD-11. The MD-XX Long Range would have been capable of travelling distances up to 8,320 nautical miles and had a wing span of 213 feet. The project was cancelled in 1996, one year before McDonnell Douglas was taken over by Boeing.[2]

Current status

Today, both narrow-body and wide-body trijet production has ceased for almost all commercial aircraft, being replaced by twinjets. As of 2013, the Dassault Falcon 7X and Dassault Falcon 900 business jets, both of which feature S-ducts, are the only trijets in production. Some old trijets, such as the Boeing 727, Tupolev Tu-154, McDonnell Douglas DC-10, and MD-11, have found second careers as cargo aircraft, as well as limited charter, governmental, and military service. Currently, the most widely used trijets are 727 freighters.

Future of trijets

Airbus filed a patent in 2009 for a new, twin-tail trijet design, but it is unknown if this will ever be developed or produced.[3] The proposed Boeing X-48 Blended wing body design also has three engines.

Notable examples

Proposed or suspended trijet developments

  • Boeing 747-300 Trijet - downsized 747 to compete with the DC-10 and L-1011, cancelled
  • Blended Wing Body Trijet - proposed design based on the Boeing X-48
  • McDonnell Douglas MD-XX - stretched derivative of the DC-10, project shelved
  • North American NR-349 - proposed interceptor derivative of the A-5 Vigilante, cancelled
  • Airbus twin-tail trijet,[3] - status unknown
  • Dassault Supersonic Business Jet - suspended

See also

References

  1. ↑ Table 1-13: Active U.S. Air Carrier and General Aviation Fleet by Type of Aircraft Bureau of Transportation Statistics
  2. ↑ http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2005/12/20/203709/clipped-wings.html
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2008/04/18/223089/airbus-files-patent-for-new-trijet-design.html Airbus files patent for new trijet design, FlightGlobal.com, Retrieved 2008-12-11.
  • Modern Commercial Aircraft Willian Green, Gordon Swanborough and John Mowinski, 1987

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