Maybe because I fly it, and its a no longer produced low production run aircraft, through being a victim of circumstance I have noticed no one has mentioned the Saab 2000. Its not mentioned on any of the graphs shown of current aircraft comparisons.
I like the proposal but my primary concern is service ceiling Fl250 is far too low. Whats the point of a 1500nm range if you gonna be limited to Fl250.
Maybe chemical oxygen generators or a ring main oxygen sytem adds weight but the fuel savings would be astronomical. Take the performance of the A400m even if you wont plan to be doing long sectors to always require FL370, the performance would be there with regard to payload and shortfield operation and high ceiling when long sectors are flown. I would also opt for low wing wide landing gear for crosswind ability and minimum control speeds. The Saab 2000 has a Fl310 service ceiling and you can choose to take RVSM or non RVSM packages for avionics and maintenance solutions. Saab claim that paying the extra for the RVSM ADCs and package will pay for itself in 6-9 months on an aircraft doing 8 400nm sectors a day. Operating at 300 and 310 instead of 270 and 280.
When appropriate even though the airframes my company operate arent RVSM approved we often ask negative rvsm for higher, and in quiet airspace with a friendly controller are approved. The Saab gets to 310 with plenty of spare performance, its the differential pressure limitation on the fueselage that limits the SB20.
The Saab 2000 is worth a study as although it was not a success due to bad timing in the market and some interesting decisions from the manufacturer regarding the production jigs when production ceased is a much more advanced turbo prop than what is currently available even 15 years later in the civil market. Due to the Saab being late into production, for whatever reasons large orders were cancelled, and in a rush to bring into production some compromises were made, but when operating the aircraft you can see what awesome potential it has, and would have had if ideas had been taken to the full.
A wide bodied (capable of taking 3+3 seats or a ULD or AKE at least for a cargo version) stretched version of the Saab 2000 would be my choice with full fly by wire rather than just pitch and yaw, an improved pressurisation/environmental control system and autothrottle/full VNAV with proline 21 instead of proline 4, and 440kt TAS FL370 ceiling would be my perfect aircraft. Also take a look at the Piaggio Avanti for Turboprop performance.
I understand this is an old thread that has been resurrected but I will add my best wishes for your project. What is the status of the project now?
Last edited by PaulW; 4th Sep 2010 at 01:21.