1. Design and development
    Foreign partnership  Competition 

2. Specifications

3. See also

4. References

5. Further reading

The Boeing 7J7 was a short- to medium-range airliner proposed by American aircraft manufacturer Boeing in the 1980s. It would have carried 150 passengers and was touted as the successor to the successful Boeing 727.^[2] It was initially planned to enter service in 1992.^[2] This was intended as a highly fuel-efficient aircraft employing new technologies, but it was postponed indefinitely as the price of oil dropped during the 1980s.

Design and development

The aircraft, which was first displayed as a concept at the 1985 Paris Air Show,^[4] was planned to include advanced technology and electronics,^[2] such as:

• Fly-by-wire flight control system by Bendix
• Glass cockpit by Honeywell utilizing LCDs
• Advanced integrated avionics suite^[2]
• Widespread use of high-strength composites such as carbon-fiber^[2]
• Two General Electric GE36 UDF rear-mounted advanced technology contra-rotating unducted fan (propfan) engines^[2]

Boeing planned to save {{convert|2000|to|2500|lb|kg}} in weight through the use of aluminum-lithium and composites. It expected that aluminum-lithium alloys would save about {{cvt|800|lb|kg}}. The aircraft could also be built entirely of composites behind the aft pressure bulkhead.^[9]

The sum of all these features promised better fuel consumption by more than 60% compared to any existing large passenger aircraft technology at the time.^[10][4] "Efficiency" was the key theme. The 7J7 was to have a twin-aisle^[2] (2+2+2) seating configuration, giving an unprecedented wide and spacious cabin for its class, with no passenger more than one seat from an aisle. The aircraft could alternatively fit a high-density, seven-abreast (2+3+2) seating configuration with {{convert|17|in|cm|adj=mid|wide|0}} seats and {{convert|18|in|cm|adj=mid|wide|0}} aisles. With a diameter of {{convert|188|in|cm|0}},^[13] the fuselage is wider than earlier, preliminary concepts, such as a {{convert|164|in|cm|adj=mid|diameter|0}}, six-abreast design (with a single aisle, although a twin-aisle configuration was considered)^[14] and a {{convert|180|in|cm|adj=mid|diameter|0}}, six-abreast twin-aisle design.^[15] Boeing also provided a higher gross weight option for the plane by configuring the in-fuselage part of the wing to hold fuel. This option increases the 7J7's range by around {{convert|1600|nmi|mi km}}.^[16]

In the belly cargo section, a volume of {{convert|50.9|m3|ft3}} was available for storage.^[17] It could be used for bulk storage or to hold standard LD3-46 air cargo containers, which were entering usage with the debut of the Airbus 320.^[18]

Potential customers, who could afford to be choosier in an oversupplied world aircraft market,^[19] were concerned about the economics and noise of the unproven propfan engines, though. There were also frequent major changes in the aircraft's design that discouraged airplane buyers from committing, such as Boeing considering using wing-mounted engines with the IAE SuperFan in January 1987^[21] before recommitting to the aft-mounted UDF after three months.^[22] In August of 1987, Boeing pushed back the scheduled certification of the 7J7 from 1992 to 1993,^[23] saying that the market needed time to decide whether it wanted a 140-seat or a 170-seat airplane.^[24] On December 16, 1987, it delayed the availability date indefinitely, and it reduced the number of workers assigned to the project from 600 to 300.^[25] Boeing instead concentrated its resources on further developments of the Boeing 737 and the Boeing 757.

The 7J7 project technically continued for a long time afterward, although it never got close to an official launch. In 1991, Boeing confirmed that it was still meeting with its Japanese partners twice a year to discuss the 7J7, which was now framed as an eventual replacement for the 737. The aircraft had also devolved to fill a 100 to 170-seat category, a much less narrowly defined market target than before, and Boeing was no longer sure whether it should be a single-aisle or twin-aisle aircraft.^[26] By 1994, Boeing still denied reports that Japan had ended funding of the 7J7, stating that Boeing and Japan each had five people working on the project.^[27]

Foreign partnership

The 7J7 was also unprecedented in its foreign content, with Japan taking a 25% industrial workshare in March 1986.^[4] The name of the aircraft reflected this participation, as the "J" in 7J7 represented the Japanese Development Aircraft Corporation (JDAC), a partnership of the large Japanese industrial firms Kawasaki, Fuji, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI).^[29] Shorts from the United Kingdom and Saab-Scania from Sweden also invested in the program a few weeks later, but with smaller, single-digit percentages.^[30] Hawker de Havilland of Australia joined with a similar small percentage in December 1986.^[31]

Although the demise of the project disappointed the Japanese aviation industry,{{Citation needed|date=October 2008}} the 7J7 signaled a new era of cooperation between Boeing and Japanese suppliers. Japanese companies contributed significantly larger percentages of subsequent Boeing projects (about 15% of the Boeing 767 and 25% of the Boeing 777). Japanese industry is also a primary foreign partner on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Competition

Competing with the 7J7 for airline interest was McDonnell Douglas's proposed MD-92, a propfan-powered derivative of the MD-80; the proposed clean-sheet aircraft MD-94X, another McDonnell-Douglas aircraft powered by propfans;^[32] the Airbus A320; and Boeing's own 737. The A320 featured a lot of similar advanced technology and electronics but was powered by conventional turbofan engines. The Boeing 737 Next Generation and the 777 incorporate many of the proposed 7J7 improvements.

Specifications

• Standard 2+2+2 seating configuration: 147
• High-density 2+3+2 seating configuration: 166

• Base version:
• Standard 2+2+2 seating configuration: {{cvt|2700|nmi|mi km}}
• High-density 2+3+2 seating configuration: {{cvt|2250|nmi|mi km}}
• High gross weight version:
• Standard 2+2+2 seating configuration: {{cvt|4250|nmi|mi km}}
• High-density 2+3+2 seating configuration – {{cvt|3900|nmi|mi km}}

See also

• Boeing 727
• Boeing 767
• Boeing 777

• McDonnell Douglas MD-94X

References

Further reading

• {{cite AV media |title=Rare Boeing 7J7 mockup footage from the 1987 Paris Air Show |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSOBG8zkjSE}}
• {{cite report |oclc=964920184 |title=The Boeing 7J7 program |publisher=The Boeing Commercial Airplane Company}}
• {{cite web |website=Boeing Images |url=https://secure.boeingimages.com/archive/7J7-Landing-2F3XC5LRX3V.html |title=7J7 landing }}
• {{cite news |work=New York Times |title=Boeing updates 2 jets in a shift of strategy |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/27/business/boeing-updates-2-jets-in-a-shift-of-strategy.html |page=D1 |publication-date=January 27, 1988 |given=Lawrence M. |surname=Fisher}}
• {{cite journal |title=The Boeing 7J7 advanced technology airplane |given=Peter |surname=Sutcliffe |doi=10.1109/MCS.1987.1105251 |pages=9-15 |publication-date=February 1987 |oclc=4631908460 |issn=0272-1708 |volume=7 |issue=1 |work=IEEE Control Systems Magazine |publisher=IEEE}}
• {{cite journal |title=The Boeing 7J7—The evolution of technology and design |work=SAE Transactions |pages=1757–1768 |given=Peter L. |surname=Sutcliffe |volume=6 |date=November 13, 1987 |doi=10.4271/872405 |jstor=44473078 |publisher=SAE International |oclc=7851142810}}

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