Boeing has finished defining the broad terms of its newest single-aisle airplane, the 737 MAX.
“The program has achieved this development milestone by defining the significant changes needed to deliver the performance we’ve committed to our customers,” said Beverly Wyse, vice president and general manager of the 737 program, about the ‘Firm Concept’. “The team has a firm plan in place to incorporate all the changes necessary to realize a 13 percent fuel-use reduction within the scope and schedule of the program.”
Fuel-use reduction changes include new LEAP-1B engines from CFM International, a redesigned tail cone and Advanced Technology winglets. Other changes allow these fuel-saving features to be integrated into the overall airplane design. Boeing also decided to incorporate limited systems changes to the 737 MAX. These include an electronic bleed air system that will be supplied by Honeywell and large-format displays, supplied by Rockwell Collins, for the flight deck of the 737 MAX.
The 737 MAX flight deck will have four new large displays with significant growth capability while maintaining a common look-and-feel with the Next-Generation 737 display formats that preserves commonality with training across the 737 family. The geometric shape of the airplane has been refined, eliminating the need for the small bump on the nose-gear door that appeared in earlier design iterations.
“The 737 MAX remains on track for first delivery in 2017,” said Michael Teal, chief project engineer of the 737 Max. “Now we are focused on the finer details of the configuration and we are confident we’ll be ready to begin detailed design in mid-2013.”