Update — Embraer EMB-145

While this delay has not only cost Embraer dearly in financial terms and played into the hands of the opposition by giving them a massive head start, the finished product was well worth the wait as it has allowed the company a longer time span to ensure that they have an aircraft that is in many ways different from the competition.

Indeed, Embraer is aiming the -145 not only at the RJ and 2000 but the company intends to fight hard for every 42 to 64 seat turboprop sale that is likely to arise in the coming years. Embraer claims, with some credibility, that the aircraft’s cruise speed, economics and acquisition cost will make it more than competitive with the slower turborops whilst giving the operator the further benefit of being able to offer jet service thereby stimulating the market at the same time. Whilst the straight wing turboprop will always have superior field performance, Embraer feels that the -145 would not in reality be used on such marginal third level strips anyway and hence this isn’t considered to be a major problem.

In attacking the turboprop market (non Saab 2000) Embraer claims that on a typical 200nm (370km) sector the -145 will fly the route in 45 minutes as compared to 57 in the Fokker 50, Dash 8-300, and ATR 42. In reality this is not much of a gain and in most cases both types would be at the mercy of an increasingly demanding ATC environment. Over a 600nm (1110km) sector however the picture comes out much better for the jet. Embraer claims a 104 minute block time here as against 143 for the Fokker 50 and Dash 8-300 and 148 for the ATR 42. The more powerful version of the ATR 42, the new -500 completes this mission in 137 minutes whilst the rival Saab 2000 notches 116 and the Canadair RJ an impressive 99 minutes.

Both the -145’s competitors have opened up an interesting market, one that did not exist until the arrival of the RJ into airline service in early 1993. Over the past 17 years there has developed a worldwide hub and spoke mentality that up till recently dictated that if you were flying from A to B you would have to almost always transit through port C. So maligned has this concept become that it is cynically nowadays referred to as hub and choke, with your baggage often visiting places that you haven’t!

Obviously the new Canadair 50 seater would allow carriers to bypass these increasingly congested hubs and in the process reduce the journey time greatly between ports previously served only via a major hub. Saab and Embraer arrived at this conclusion also and certainly the airlines which have already acquired these aircraft are reaping the rewards of giving business flyers vastly reduced trip times with often increased frequency to boot. The market success of these types in the very depressed sales market of recent years has also been comparatively good. At presstime Canadair had logged firm orders for 114 RJs and Saab 39 for its 2000, though the latter aircraft suffered through a protracted development programme that put it into service one year late and almost 18 months after the Canadair RJ.

In bringing the -145 to market Embraer knew that it was up against two very good products in addition to a new generation of jets in the 70 seat class such as the Fokker 70 and Avro RJ70. The aircraft had to offer something of positive use to the regional operator and to achieve that Embraer used its years of practical real world knowledge in producing the Brasilia and Bandeirante commuters.

For starters, Embraer developed its aircraft from the Brasilia fuselage, added new low drag high lift wings and a T tail empennage with rear mounted engines. Technology developed by Embraer on the CBA-123 Vector programme and the lighter fuselage as compared with that of the Canadair RJ means that the Brazilian product has an empty ramp weight almost two tonnes lighter than its direct competitors. The primary reason for this is that the RJ was developed from the Challenger corporate jet, an aircraft with a pressure differential of 8.3 psi optimised for continual high altitude operation well above 40,000ft. By comparison, the -145 has a pressure differential of just 7.8 to provide an 8000ft cabin at a cruising altitude of 37,000ft. Added to this, the new generation engines are smaller and lighter and the cabin is somewhat slimmer (a three abreast cabin rather than four) resulting in less air resistance and consequent airframe drag.

The 7476lb (33.2kN) thrust (max takeoff rating at sea level) Allison AE 3007A turbofans are entirely new and consequently embody the latest fuel saving FADEC digital technology to reduce maintenance downtime and enhance operator productivity. This engine is also used in its turbofan application on the Cessna Citation X corporate jet and in turboprop form on the Saab 2000 and Lockheed Martin C-130J Hercules.

One of the engine’s greatest attributes is that it is extremely quiet. During AA’s visit to Embraer’s HQ at Sao Jose dos Campos to witness the official rollout and first public flight demonstration of the -145 we were amazed to find that the aircraft is practically noiseless. These new generation turbofans coupled with the aircraft’s clean aerodynamics, and hence low airframe noise, certainly make the -145 a good neighbour, which is a vital consideration for air transport operations into the next century.

The flightdeck comes equipped with a five panel EFIS display using Honeywell Primus 1000 series avionics. The displays are a stunning 20cm x 17cm with the cockpit’s human interface design being aimed at reducing crew workload and fatigue as much as possible.

Embraer naturally is presently quoting technical data computed primarily from wind tunnel tests. The certification programme, which will see four aircraft flying a total of 1300 hours over the next year, will verify the precise figures though it is projected that the -145 will have a maximum cruise speed of 430kt (795km/h). Embraer has not released figures for the more realistic economical cruise speed though some sources have suggested that this is closer to 380kt (705km/h). This would place the -145 about 40kt (75km/h) slower than the Canadair in the same configuration and around 80kt (148km/h) faster than the Saab 2000. Thus in many ways the -145 will probably be employed on routes of around 700nm (1300km) or about two hours sector time which corresponds with the maximum duration most airline executives believe passengers are content being in a regional airliner sized fuselage.

The -145 comes in two versions, a standard model with a max takeoff weight of 19,200kg and an ER version of 20,600kg. With a full passenger load each can fly a maximum range mission with reserves of 800nm (1480km) and 1180nm (2185km) respectively. Field length required for takeoff for the baseline version (ISA, SL, MTOW) is 1500m (4920ft) and 1290m (4230ft) for landing. Time to climb to 30,000ft is 16 minutes and the initial rate of climb is 2380ft per minute. Fast climbout and the ability to perform a high speed descent are two valuable performance attributes that an aircraft of this type can well employ to make the most of varying ATC requirements when operating into congested airspace.

To build the -145 Embraer has taken on board a large contingent of partners. Direct risk sharing partners include Chile’s Enaer, who are building the empennage, Gamesa of Spain which produces the wing and C&D Interiors from the USA who are responsible for equipping the cabin. There are also 44 major suppliers, all of which have been responsible for the development costs for their involvement on the programme and thus have a vested interest in ensuring that the -145 becomes a profitable market reality. The initial $400m development programme has been split with an investment of 33% by the direct risk sharing partner itself. The remaining 10% has come largely from the many suppliers involved on the programme.

Recently privatised, Embraer will need a further $200m injected into the programme by mid ’96 in order to establish the production line. This is not considered a problem though and the company plans to produce three aircraft a month through 1997 with this rate able to be lifted to four a month by 1999 if required. Brasilia production continues, as does spares manufacture for the venerable Bandeirante while the company looks set to build over 100 of the latest version of the Tucano armed trainer for the Brazilian air force. Though now down to just 3600 employees, Embraer is as lean as it gets and is planning to fight back from several years of recession which, like all airframers, has hit it badly.

It is interesting to note though that whilst the privatisation was considered successful, a large number of the shareholders are actually state owned functionaries. And while few media commentators have noted this it does at least suggest that the Brazilian Government will ensure that its nation’s leading high technology company is not allowed to wither on the vine in years to come through lack of investment capital.

Australia, thanks to the vigorous marketing efforts of Steve Padgett’s highly respected Aeromil operation, looks set to be a hot market for the -145. Sir Dennis Buchanan’s Flight West has already ordered two (and will take more once the type proves itself and the airline gains access into NSW) whilst Pelair and National Jet have also shown their interest. A major reason for this is that the jet can actually be employed on services totally outside the traditional province of the turboprop which by the nature of its limited performance spends a considerable amount of time throughout the day standing idle. To highlight this fact it is interesting to note that Bombardier recently released data that showed that its Canadair RJ jet fleet flew an average of 3116 hours per annum as against just 2478 for the Dash 8 propjet fleet. The average sector difference was 420nm (778km) versus 164nm (304km), making clear how much more revenue flying opportunities you can actually achieve with a regional jet like the -145 and RJ.

Worldwide, Embraer estimates that it will achieve a market penetration similar to that achieved with the 30 seat Brasilia — 60% to North America, 30% to Europe and 10% elsewhere. Embraer’s primary sales weapon is a flyaway price of $US14.5m and the traditionally amazing Brazilian Government finance package that helped the company make real inroads into what had previously been the sole province of the first world. By comparison (and these are Embraer figures so please no damning letters from the competition) the Canadair RJ costs $US18.6m, the Saab 2000 $US14m whilst the slower turboprops are generally around the $US11-12m region. One does note with more than passing interest though that Mount Cook’s recent acquisition cost of the much larger ATR 72 was claimed to be somewhat below this figure. Unfortunately in the wonderful world of aviation the actual sale price of an airliner is about as well defined as the length of a piece of string!