Posted on 03/28/2008 3:29:54 AM PDT by decimon
TOKYO - Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is going ahead with its mid-sized regional jet — the first "made in Japan" passenger aircraft in three decades.
The announcement from the company President Kazuo Tsukuda came Friday, a day after major Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways placed the first orders for the twin-engine aircraft that seats about 70 to 90 people.
ANA ordered 15 of the jets from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. on Thursday for delivery from 2013, with an option for 10 more.
Mitsubishi, a Japanese machinery maker, has been testing out the response to the jet — which would face tough competition from Bombardier Inc. of Canada, Brazil's Embraer SA and companies in China and Russia developing mid-sized jets.
Tsukuda said the project must include government commitment because of its potential importance to the nation's economy as well as its great risks. But he said the jet has potential to contribute to Japan's technological prowess.
"We believe the aerospace business will be a pillar of our nation's industrial might," he told reporters at Tokyo headquarters.
The Mitsubishi Regional Jet, or MRJ, is a lightweight carbon-fiber composite jet is designed to consume about 20 percent less fuel than comparable standard jets.
Mitsubishi officials said its fuel-efficiency is an asset at a time when fuel prices are soaring, and the aircract is also designed to reduce noise, as well as be comfortable for passengers.
Demand for smaller jets is expected to rise over the next 20 years in regional markets. Mitsubishi's main target markets are North America, Europe and Japan.
Tsukuda acknowledged challenges remain because the company has yet to receive launch customers other than ANA, although it approached some 100 airlines.
But he sounded upbeat, saying that response had been good from carriers in the U.S., Southeast Asia and other regions.
He also said he is counting on "government support." He did not give an amount for the cash or other specifics for what he was expecting.
Japan Airlines, the nation's other major airline, has said it is considering the MRJ but won't oder any for now as it has already ordered 10 Embraer 170 jets.
Mitsubishi officials said they were hopeful JAL will order the jet a few years down the road.
Mitsubishi is setting up a joint venture for the project, capitalized at 3 billion yen ($30 million). That will eventually be raised to 100 billion yen ($1 billion), it said without giving a date.
The jet will be Japan's first nationally funded, domestically manufactured passenger aircraft project since the YS-11, a turboprop airplane that was discontinued in 1973.
ANA, which said the MRJ was chosen for reasons of safety, overall economy, passenger comfort and performance, estimated the value of its order at 60 billion yen ($600 million), based on the catalog price of 4 billion yen for each aircraft.
ANA said use of the plane would result in an annual sales increase of 5 billion yen ($50 million).
The jet's first deliveries could come as soon as 2012. Mitsubishi — part of a major Japanese conglomerate that includes an automaker, electronics maker and trading company — has chosen Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp., as the MRJ's engine supplier.
Development costs are estimated at about 150 billion yen ($1.5 billion).
Mitsubishi has been a longtime Boeing partner, supplying the wing box for the 787 and other aircraft.
The expansion at Tokyo's Haneda airport in 2010 is expected to provide opportunities for carriers to expand their businesses, increasing the demand for mid-sized jets.
Zero ping
The above logo is a stylisation of an aircraft propeller. Mitsubishi used to manufacture airplanes, around the time of WW2.
Pretty bird...with Mitsu’s pedigree I’ll bet it will do well in the marketplace.
"Mitsubishi" and the Famous Three-Diamond Mark
The name "Mitsubishi" refers to the three-diamond emblem. "Mitsubishi" is a combination of the words mitsu and hishi. Mitsu means three. Hishi means water chestnut, and Japanese have used the word for a long time to denote a rhombus or diamond shape. Japanese often bend the "h" sound to a "b" sound when it occurs in the middle of a word. So they pronounce the combination of mitsu and hishi as mitsubishi.
Yataro Iwasaki, the founder of the old Mitsubishi organization, chose the three-diamond mark as the emblem for his company. The mark is suggestive of the three-leaf crest of the Tosa Clan, Yataro's first employer, and also of the three stacked rhombuses of the Iwasaki family crest.
A perennial subject for speculation is why Yataro chose not to put his own family name on his new company. If he had, we now might speak of Iwasaki Heavy Industries, Iwasaki Electric, and Bank of Tokyo-Iwasaki. But he opted for a different name.
Whatever Yataro's reason for refraining from using the Iwasaki name, it surely wasn't modesty. Yataro was a bold and aggressive leader. Still, he might have felt some deference toward the Tosa Clan. Support from the clan was instrumental in launching his inaugural venture in shipping. And putting his own name on that venture might have seemed overly impudent, even to Yataro Iwasaki.
Ah, interesting!
I could have sworn having read the propeller connection, somewhere.
Yeah, planes of the same size look much alike. But the Embraer tube is probably of aluminum while the Mitsubishi tube is Tonka.
Just read an AvWeb article that suggested jets are less fuel efficient than turbo-props for these shorter regional trips such that turbo-props are making a comeback and jet sales are lagging. I wonder if this is the right time to enter the market.
Indeed...hope their planes are more reliable than their trucks...my D50 was one of the worse vehicles I've ever owned
This article misses the real news: Pratt & Whitney now has a launch customer for their Geared Turbofan engine, which is a huge milestone development in the history of Jet travel.
This commercial launch of the GTF will most likely lead directly to an uprated version for next generation single isle aircraft to replace the Boeing 737 series and the Airbus A320 series of aircraft.
I like everything but the name. Anything with ‘geared’ in the name sounds a throwback.
Back in my day Tonka trucks were made of steel, not plastic!
They manufactured the Zero.
Good thing they didn't make airliners. ;-)
Ah, all turboprops are geared - some silly physics thing about cavitation at high speeds.
(Because the propeller is much larger in diameter than the power turbine, the tip speed of the propeller can become supersonic. To prevent this, a speed reduction gearbox is inserted between the power turbine and propeller shafts. The gearbox is part of the engine, whereas in a turboshaft the (helicopter) rotor reduction gearbox is remote from the engine.)
The USAF tooka pass on turboprops back in the 50s. Seems the tip noise was bad enough to make the pilot and ground crew sick. With new prop designs, not so much a problem.
So, will the USAF see a ‘new’ turboSPAD to replace the now old A-10?
Yeah, but Yo-Yo linked to a geared turbofan engine, a jet. There's just something about picturing gears in a turbine. ;-)
(Slaps forehead) !Equeala! He did post turbofan, I read turboprop.
Lots of turboprops here in Alaska for the shorter routes - I guess folks here have more time than money.
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