777F

Boeing plans to complete eight 777Fs this year, with two involved in flight tests. That pair is destined for launch customer Air France.

Boeing launched the Boeing 777 Freighter in May 2005 with Air France’s launch order. The aircraft is based on the 777-200LR Worldliner passenger aircraft and has a maximum takeoff weight of 347,450kg.

The 777 Freighter can accommodate 27 standard pallets (2. 5 x 3m) on the main deck. The industry standard 10 foot (3. 1m) high pallets will be accommodated by the large main deck cargo door that will make use of the aircraft’s volume capability.

The 777F is the only freight aircraft capable of interlining the 10ft pallets with the 747F.

The lower cargo hold has the capacity for 10 pallets, as well as 17m3 of additional bulk cargo.

“We are excited to debut the newest member of our 777 and freighter families,” 777 VP Larry Loftis said at the roll-out. “Today is a tribute to the dedication and hard work our employees, customers and suppliers put into making this airplane a reality. ” Kim Pastega, deputy program manager and deputy chief project engineer, 777 Freighter program, added: “Any time you develop a new airplane that will deliver unmatched performance, there are challenges to overcome,” she said. “By working together with our customers and suppliers, we found a way to meet those challenges and build the best possible new cargo airplane. The successful application of 777 technology to the cargo market is reflected in the broad customer base for the airplane. ” It’s in fuel economy that the 777F excels, says Pastega. In a baseline situation compared to the 777F the MD-11F burns four per cent more fuel, the 747-400F 32 per cent and the 747-200F 52 per cent.

On a tonne/km basis the percentages against the 777F are MD-11F 19 per cent, 747-400 20 per cent and 747‑200 41 per cent.

Pastega also highlighted the 777F’s high degree of commonality with the rest of the 777 family, with major changes – apart from the obvious such as strengthening the main deck floor and including a main deck freight door – being that the 777F has a strengthened wing box, leading and trailing edges, aileron and cargo floor support and horizontal stabiliser.

The 777F also featuresa supernumerary area with four business class seats that can also be configured for 8 economy class seats for horse handlers.

Elizabeth Lund, then director 777 manufacturing, told media on May 21 that building the 777F involved thousands of new part numbers and heavier structure and many challenges.

“We were adding a new model, changing to a moving line and ramping up production,” Lund told Australian Aviation.

The incredible success of performing all those tasks without any major glitches was rewarded with Lund being named vice president of product development for Boeing Commercial Airplanes just two days after the 777F roll-out.

In that role Lund will be responsible for leading preliminary design of new and derivative aircraft and systems, and environmental performance strategy, as well as managing the overall research and development plan across BCA.

To date, Boeing has secured 78 firm orders from 11 customers for the 777F, which now accounts for more than 20 per cent of the 777 program’s current backlog.

The customer base includes launch customer Air France, China Southern, Deucalion – which will lease to AeroLogic, Emirates, FedEx (which famously ordered the 777F after dropping its A380F commitment), GECAS, Guggenheim Aviation Partners, Korean Air, LAN Airlines, Oak Hill, and Qatar Airways.

Air France has ordered five 777Fs, with options for three to replace its 747-200Fs. Plans call for the 777F to be used on routes to Shanghai, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Houston.

Air France senior VP new aircraft and corporate fleet planning, Pierre Vellay, praised the 777F’s capabilities.

Air France was “very pleased with the high level of participation and input Boeing solicited from the customers in the development of this airplane,” Vellay said at the roll-out. Earlier in May Boeing delivered Air France’s 50th 777 – a 777-300ER.

The 777F now moves straight into a flight test and certification program in June and will draw heavily on the 777-200LR flight test program, according to Suzanna Darcy-Hennemann, chief pilot for the 777 program.

“Eighty per cent of the tests relate to fire protection,” Darcy-Hennemann said.

These include smoke detection, smoke penetration and Halon fire protection system.

The two and a half month certification program will involve 350 flight test hours and 700 ground test hours.

The 777F rounds off the industry’s most comprehensive freighter offering says Boeing.

Boeing (including McDonnell Douglas) new build freighters and converted airliners provide about 90 percent of the total worldwide dedicated freighter capacity, dominating the world’s air cargo fleets.

Freighters comprise a significant segment of Boeing Commercial Airplanes business, with record orders in each of the past three years, totalling 238 new production freighters added to the company’s order book.

Today, Boeing offers a selection of revenue payloads, from 20 tonnes for the 737-700 to 148 tonnes for the 747-8 which has garnered 78 orders, with the first to be delivered to Cargolux in the second half of 2009.

Air cargo has become an integral part of world business activity and currently generates revenues of more than US$52 billion annually while growing faster than passenger travel.

Not unexpectedly, Boeing is forecasting that the major growth area for air cargo is centred on Asia with 7. 1 per cent growth pa on the Asia-US routes, 8. 6 per cent pa intra Asia and 6. 9 per cent on Asia – Europe.

Over the next 20 years Boeing expects a tripling of growth and the current fleet of 1980 freighters will grow to 3980 by 2026. o