Chapter 437 A quiet turboprop passenger plane (10,000 per day, please give me a monthly pass)
The cabin of this kind of turboprop regional passenger plane with dozens of seats must be all economy class, and there won’t be much expense. live.
And because like the ATR series aircraft, Italians are responsible for the interior comfort design, the style layout even gives Jonjit an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
Having worked for Bangkok Airways for more than ten years, he felt as if he was going home as soon as he got on the plane.
However, after adapting to the light in the cabin and taking two steps forward, he quickly noticed the difference between this aircraft and the ATR72.
Just when he turned around to find the accompanying translator to ask, Gao Quan, who came up behind, had already given a timely explanation.
“Because the cross-sectional shape of the original design of the aircraft is different, the cabin of our MA60 is slightly shorter but wider than aircraft of the same class. If compared with the ATR72, the height has dropped by 8 cm. But the width has increased by 12 centimeters, so each seat we customized and the middle cabin aisle are also wider.”
In fact, most passengers do not have a clear perception of the height of the cabin, ATR72. The cabin height is 2 meters, while that of MA60 is 1.92 meters. For most passengers, especially Asian passengers, there is not much difference.
But the width is different.
Since the basic width of economy class seats is generally small, it is just right for most normal-sized passengers. Therefore, even if it is only 1-2 cm wider on this basis, it will bring Very obvious improvement in riding experience.
The experienced Jonjit just discovered this difference.
He directly found a seat in the middle of the cabin and sat down.
For most turboprop airliners, this is the place where the riding experience is the worst - due to the close distance to the propeller, the noise and vibration felt are extremely exaggerated.
Of course when doing business, you can’t just do whatever you want. Gao Quan and his party followed and sat around Qiongjit.
“The comfort of the seat is really good.”
As a veteran, Jonjit naturally knew that it was best not to praise the seller's products casually at this time, but he also had to admit that compared to the small bench-like seats on ordinary regional airliners, the one under his butt was much more comfortable.
At least let him rest in place for a while.
“The comfort-related configurations in our cabin, including seats, lighting, and air conditioning, are all designed by Alenia Aerospace and purchased directly from Europe. The ride experience absolutely surpasses any other. Competitors of the same level.”
This is a very good statement.
To Jonjit, this sounds like an advantage of the aircraft.
But for Gao Quan, the whole person is a highlight.
For passengers, the most direct perception is the cabin comfort configuration, but for him, the general manager of Haojing Aircraft Company, these things are obviously secondary.
Although in order to achieve competitiveness in terms of fuel consumption and pollutant emissions, this aircraft still chooses engines imported from Pratt & Whitney for power, there is no doubt that the entire aircraft from overall design to production and manufacturing is Completed in China.
The Italian partner only provided funds, the reputation of European companies and in-flight equipment that were not important to an "aircraft".
This situation has never happened before in the history of China's aviation industry.
"After a while, we also arranged a test ride."
Seeing that Qiongjit had shown some interest, Gao Quan struck while the iron was hot:
"I just said , MA60 is more fuel-efficient than similar models. In addition to reducing operating costs, it also increases the range.”
“Even if it is fully loaded with 60 passengers and 15kg of luggage per person, we still retain the standard remaining fuel. It is still possible to achieve a range of 1,850 kilometers despite the amount of traffic, which should be an obvious advantage for your airline..."
For such a user who almost fell from the sky, Gao Quan has naturally done it Enough homework.
It is indeed a coincidence that thanks to the newly designed wings and propellers, the MA60's range is stuck at a very perfect distance.
As an airline that only operates small regional aircraft, Bangkok Airways actually has only two main routes.
The first is from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, the one-way distance is 760km, and the second is from Bangkok to Phuket, the one-way distance is 840km.
The fully loaded range of the ATR72-500 is 1650km.
When flying to Phuket, you must refuel locally before returning. If flying to Chiang Mai encounters many passengers, air traffic control, or strong headwinds, you must also refuel.
For a small airline like Bangkok Airways, the aviation fuel support service at the airport is also a big expense. If you can refuel at one less airport, you have to refuel at one less airport. The MA60's range can at least guarantee a worry-free round trip on the first route unless something unexpected happens.
As expected, this sentence is no less lethal to Jonjit than the 8% fuel consumption just mentioned.
Though these two things are essentially the same.
“Then we’d better start as soon as possible?”
He is obviously no longer as calm as he was at the beginning.
"Don't be impatient, Mr. Jonjit. Our pilots are already making pre-flight preparations. They will board the plane soon..."
Now Gao Quan started to play. Playing hard to get made Jungjit feel as if she had been scratched by a cat.
Finally, after tasting Chinese special snacks for the fourth time, the two pilots in white shirts finally boarded the plane from the cabin door, and then walked forward into the cockpit.
“We can go to the cockpit door to take a look at what they are preparing.”
Gao Quan got up and took Jonjit to the front of the plane.
Since there is no general aircraft boarding gate here, there are just two rows of ordinary seats here.
“Why is the cockpit door so complicated to design?”
The latter looked at a flight attendant next to him who was holding the door against his body and asked.
“This is a special request from one of our engineers. The cockpit door will automatically close tightly without additional force, and once it is locked from the inside, there is no way to open it from the outside.”
Gao Quan shrugged and explained:
“He said this would be more conducive to ensuring flight safety. Although I don’t quite understand it, he played an important role in the design of the entire aircraft, so we followed it. This suggestion. "
The engineer who made this request is naturally Chang Haonan. As for the reason...it goes without saying.
In a few years, passenger aircraft around the world will be forced to retrofit cabin doors with this structure, and someone will thank him then.
As a business person with a non-technical background, Qiongjit doesn’t really understand the joysticks, instrument panels and displays in the cockpit of an aircraft, but at least in terms of look and feel, they are similar to those of other regional airliners. The difference is not big.
After all, the full LCD cockpit these days is not luxurious enough to be installed on such a small regional aircraft, so except for the three multi-function displays, most of the space is still occupied by various dials.
With a roaring sound from the turbine and a shaking that could be felt throughout the aircraft, but not serious, the pilot started the two engines one after another through the air source provided by the APU.
“In the absence of additional energy supply from the ground, the MA-60 can cold start on its own, but due to insufficient air supply, only one engine can be started at a time.”
Again A sum of money that can be saved for the airline.
“Let’s go back to the cabin and we’ll start taxiing soon.”
After Gao Quan finished speaking, he signaled the flight attendant to close the cockpit door and took Jonjit back to his previous position.
Outside the window, the propeller speed gradually accelerated.
Jongjit closed her eyes habitually, preparing to endure the violent shaking and noise that followed.
This is an inherent problem that is difficult to overcome for turboprop engines, especially since he chose a location closest to the window.
A few minutes later, the plane slowly began to taxi along the taxiway.
Jonjit opened her eyes somewhat unexpectedly and looked out the window at the high-speed propeller with a shocked look on her face.
Although the noise and vibration control of this aircraft is certainly incomparable to that of a turbofan airliner, in a propeller aircraft, it is unexpectedly perfect!
(End of this chapter)