An
article came out recently on this topic. Some points:
- By using composites, lower maintenance costs will save more money than will the lower fuel burn
- Since composites do not degrade due to corrosion parts do not need to be replaced as often, which saves both the replacement cost of the part as well as the cost of the downtime of the aircraft
- Aluminum planes go for C-checks every 24 months, the 7e7 will go every 30 months, with a goal of making that 36 months
- Extending the maintenance cycle by six months would give airlines an extra 169 flights between C-checks
And for some good-old A vs. B talk:
But simply hanging 7E7 engines on the A330 won't work, he said. The A330 already is heavier than the 7E7, and the 7E7 engines will be bigger, meaning more drag. That would make the A350 a less efficient airplane even if Airbus uses lighter composites, Bair said.
Seems to me that the A350 will need to get an increase of ~30% in range over the A330 to compete with the 7e7, and that sounds like quite a tough goal to meet without starting over from scratch. It'll be very interesting to see what transpires over the next 4-5 years.
--ev--