Airbus A370

Airbus apparently conducted market research when looking for a name for the A380 super-jumbo, originally known as the A3XX. The number 7 [ie, A370] was immediately eliminated since it is so closely associated with rival Boeing. For whatever reasons, the numbers A350 and A360 were also deemed unpopular and appear to have been skipped, at least initially in the case of A350. A380 was eventually selected because the cross-section the fuselage resembles the digit 8, and because 8 is considered a special number in Asian cultures, the primary market for which the A380 is intended. This has not halted public speculation as to the possible indentity of an A360 and an A370.

Some thought that the A350 should have been called the A360. The A350 could be the A320 replacement and the A370 could be the big twin between the A350 and the A380. That way, the third generation of the Airbus family could have the same sensible naming as the second generation.

In 2006 it was rumored that Airbus was developing an A370 � essentially a paper plane - which according to secondary and tertiary sources was a follow on to the 350. The A370 appeared to be targeted at the Emirates and Singapore [Airlines Limited], to forestall 787 orders. The information suggests Airbus would keep the current A350-800. The A370 would come in two sizes; approximately sized like the A350-900 and A340-600.

By another 2006 report "The A370 Airbus is now touting to airlines will have new wings, designed and built in Britain, made entirely of lightweight composite materials. It will have a wider cabin than the B787 and, like its Dreamliner rival, enable higher cabin pressurisation, improving passenger comfort. Crucially, it will also have the ability to be extended upwards from 250 seats to perhaps 350 or more, enabling different versions to do the job of the Boeing 787 and Boeing 777. This requires engine makers to develop new power plants able to provide up to 95,000 lbs of thrust, compared to a maximum of 75,000 lbs required for the A350 design."

OR the A370 might be an all-composite single-decker twin with a circular fuselage wider than the B747 (251 inches) but narrower than the A380 (281 inches). Done well, it could offer strong competition to the the B777-300ER and the B747Adv. Another concept sees the AIRBUS A370 concept as a 9000nm, 450 pasenger, composite design with 2 engines, something of a mini Airbus A380.

Camil Valiquette has created very popular A360 and A370 for FlightSim.

Aviation-Design.Net:

Design � TH
Template � Theo H.

Some observers have associated the A370 nomenclature with a series of patents and patent applications filed by Airbus in the 2005-2010 timeframe for various trijet designs. Aircraft equipped with three engines and having the construction summarized above, such as the LOCKHEED L1011 and the McDONNELL DOUGLAS DC-10 or MD-11, are already known. In particular, the third engine is situated, structurally and geometrically, between the horizontal tail section and the vertical tail section and carries the fin of the vertical tail section.

These aircraft, the design of which dates back to the 1970s, and some of which are still in service, are equipped with powerful engines to provide long-haul services; however, given the era in which they were designed, these engines generate considerable noise and entail a high fuel consumption. Specifically, the noise generated by the third engine is particularly disturbing to passengers situated in the rear of the cabin, and also to residents living near airports when the aircraft is in the landing or takeoff phase, since the placement of this third engine means that the noise is diffused all around the aft portion of the fuselage. Hence, this construction has gradually been abandoned to be replaced by a simpler construction of the twin-jet type, resulting in equal performance.

What is currently happening, with the exception of very long-haul aircraft, of the AIRBUS A-340 and BOEING 747 type, is that airliners are mostly being constructed with two engines, such as turbofans, borne symmetrically and respectively by the fuselage wings. Advances in technology which have made it possible to develop particularly powerful high-performance turbofans mean that these twin-jet aircrafts are able not only to make short-haul and medium-haul flights, but the largest of them are also certified to perform long-haul flights in complete safety despite only using two engines, and even despite malfunctioning of one of them.

However, on the other hand, these powerful turbofans have an ever-increasing mass and size, thereby making it necessary for the aircraft structure (fuselage, wings and landing gear in particular) to be designed accordingly so that it can withstand the stresses, and, by virtue of their oversizing, said jet engines also generate a significant noise level both for passengers and residents living near airports (in the takeoff and landing phase), this in spite of the advances made in this field by engine manufacturers.

The stabilizers of the horizontal tail section are slightly inclined symmetrically toward the rear of said fuselage so as to form, when viewed in a horizontal plane perpendicular to said vertical longitudinal plane, an open V whose point corresponds to their connection to the rear part of the fuselage. Thus, by virtue of the invention, the design of the rear tail sections and the arrangement of the third engine at the inlet of the channel makes it possible to considerably reduce the previous acoustic problems, since the noise generated by the third engine of the fuselage is sucked up by the channel so as to be discharged along the latter and upwardly away from the fuselage, that is to say away from passengers situated in the rear of the cabin and a fortiori away from residents living near airports.