Love at first sight- Boeing ups the ante for the 737 lineup with 737-MAX!

Maybe PMDG will come out with an expansion of this. :Idea:

Winglets look cool.

Love it! Does it have the 787, 747-800ish composite wing?

Love it! Does it have the 787, 747-800ish composite wing?

 

Can't say I've read anything about that yet. I know that the engines, tailcone, winglets, and nosegear have changed as well as other small aerodynamic improvements, but so far, nothing said about wings. It would be cool if they did do upgrades to the wings, though.

Love it! Does it have the 787, 747-800ish composite wing?

 

Unlikely, Boeing said they wanted to keep the changes as small as possible. To make a composite wing they would have to redesign the entire wing, which would be a major undertaking. The winglets (or whatever they're calling them) themselves might be composite though and since some of the wing structure will probably have to be redesigned to take the winglets, some parts may be replaced by composite.

There's a site in the UK that has some interesting information on the 737MAX.

I just don't think it would be worth it to do a composite wing on the 737 due to the size of the wing in the first place. A 747 wing has a signicant amount of weight so to make a composite wing in the 747-800 has value. The 737-NG series is not as heavy in the first place....so going to composite is not as much a boost for the costs to make that change.

 

Also the 747 wing has multiple fuel tanks and 4 engines mounted off of it. The 737 has one tank per wing and one engine per wing.

I just don't think it would be worth it to do a composite wing on the 737 due to the size of the wing in the first place. A 747 wing has a signicant amount of weight so to make a composite wing in the 747-800 has value. The 737-NG series is not as heavy in the first place....so going to composite is not as much a boost for the costs to make that change.

 

Also the 747 wing has multiple fuel tanks and 4 engines mounted off of it. The 737 has one tank per wing and one engine per wing.

 

Well the 2 vs 4 engines will make some difference, but percentage wise I'd expect the 737s wing to make up roughly the same portion of the total weight. Every kg of weight you manage to save earns itself back via fuel savings. As an example Airbus recently completed a program to save I think 200 kg off the total weight of an A320. Obviously they didn't do anything as major as a wing redesign, but even small weight savings can be worth it (every 100 kg is an extra passenger, now multiply that by 5 flights a day, 300 days a year and 20 years of service).

Don't forget that the development costs on a 737 can be spread over a much larger number of aircraft deliveries than for a 747, so it's not quite as simple as saying the 737 wing is lighter than a 747 wing. In the end though there will be a trade-off between the expected weight savings (and thus added-value for the customer) and the expected cost (and time) of development.Also there are only a finite number of engineers at Boeing and they have quite a few major projects going.

 

Another factor is certification (a very expensive process). Keeping the wing metal allows Boeing to certify the MAX under an amended type certificate. I suspect the FAA would require a new type certificate if the wing was made composite, which would also require a bunch of other design changes, since they could no longer be grandfathered on the basis of old rules.

Hi!

 

From the first post link it looks very nice. I can see the 737 lineage but it is a new aircraft. More importantly the graphics on the Boeing website are extremely good. If only the new flightsim looked like that! The aircraft model detail, the sky, the clouds! Not to mention the FPS!

 

Many thanks.

 

Pierre

Hi!

 

From the first post link it looks very nice. I can see the 737 lineage but it is a new aircraft. More importantly the graphics on the Boeing website are extremely good. If only the new flightsim looked like that! The aircraft model detail, the sky, the clouds! Not to mention the FPS!

 

Many thanks.

 

Pierre

 

Yes, indeed! Now THAT would be flight simulation on steroids!

I've been searching the web for a MAX for FSX and so far no luck. Does anyone know if there's any out there? In case someone finds one, I'd appreciate it if they post the link somewhere. Thanks!!...Ps. Desperate for a 737 MAX!!! :rolleyes:

Not even scheduled until 2017 for the first deliveries. So I doubt anyone is going to make one.