Embraer 190 Commercial Regional Jet, Brazil

The 98-passenger Embraer 190 is a member of a new family of commercial jets which has been developed by Embraer of Brazil. The other aircraft in the family include the 70-passenger Embraer 170, 78-passenger Embraer 175 and the 108-passenger Embraer 195.

The Embraer 190 was launched in June 1999 and took its first flight in March 2004.

The aircraft received US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification in September 2005 and the first was delivered shortly after to launch customer JetBlue Airways of USA, which has an order for 100 aircraft plus 100 options. The aircraft entered service with JetBlue in January 2006.

Embraer has received firm orders for over 400 Embraer 190 aircraft and over 120 have been delivered. Other customers include: Air Canada (45 plus 45 options), Copa Airlines of Panama (15 plus 15 options), TAME of Ecuador (one), Air France subsidiary Regional (six plus six options), Aerorepublica (five plus 20 options), HNA Group of China (50), US Airways (25 plus 32) Lufthansa (30), Virgin Blue (20), KLM Cityhopper (ten), NAS Air of Saudi Arabia (five plus five) and TACA of El Salvador (11 plus 15).

The first flight of the 195 took place in December 2004 and Brazilian certification was received in June 2006. The first aircraft was delivered to launch customer, Flybe, in September 2006. In August 2007 BRA of Brazil ordered 20 plus 20 options. By the end of 2007, orders had been placed for 60 aircraft plus 59 options with 13 delivered.

Over 764 firm orders and 786 options have been placed for the whole family of jets and over 430 aircraft delivered. There is a high degree of commonality between the aircraft in the 170/190 family with about 90% of components in common to the various models. There is also common pilot certification for all four models.

The flight tests are being carried out from Embraer's main site in Sao Jose dos Campos and from the Gaviao Peixoto industrial centre where Embraer has constructed a 5,000m-long, 95m-wide runway, the longest in Latin America.

The 170/190 regional jet family is being developed through a partnership program which involves major aerospace contractors, with 16 risk-sharing partners and 22 main suppliers. Main system suppliers, Liebherr of Germany, Sonaca of Belgium and C&D of the USA, have set up subsidiary operations in Brazil to establish local production.

In January 2005, Embraer announced the introduction of Advanced Range (AR) versions of the Embraer 190 and 195, which have structural reinforcements in the fuselage, wings, pylons and flight control surfaces to allow higher take-off and landing weight. The aircraft have up to 555km (300nm) additional range; the range of the 190AR is 4,260km (2,300nm) and the 195AR is 3,890km (2,100nm).

EMBRAER 190 DESIGN

Digital modelling and virtual reality have been used extensively in the design of the aircraft. Embraer is responsible for the assembly of the 190, which is carried out in a newly constructed 16,000m² facility. The facility houses eight aircraft assembly docks. A 4,000m² painting hangar has also been installed.

The aircraft is of conventional low wing design and has two podded engines mounted below the wings.

The wings are fitted with winglets, which reduce the drag of the wing vortex and provide increased lift and improved efficiency of the wing. The Japanese company Kawasaki supplied the wing stubs, flaps and spoilers, control surfaces and leading and trailing edges.

The aircraft has an all-moving tailplane. Gamesa of Spain supplies the rear fuselage section and vertical and horizontal tail surfaces.

The radome and forward fuselage are manufactured by Embraer, the centre fuselage is by Embraer and Latecoere, the rear fuselage by Gamesa and the tailcone by Hamilton Sundstrand.

DIGITAL FLIGHT DECK

The aircraft has an all-digital cockpit. The avionics suite is modular and lightweight and is based on a Honeywell Primus Epic Electronic Flight and Information System (EFIS) with five liquid crystal colour displays.

The aircraft is equipped with fly-by-wire flight control, i.e. computer-controlled, electrical primary flight control with the exception of the ailerons.

CABIN

The aircraft features a double bubble type, rather than circular cross section fuselage. This provides a larger cabin width (2.53m at floor level and 2.74m at shoulder level) and easier access to the overhead baggage bins. The height within the passenger cabin is 2.00m.

The interior cabin is designed by the US company C&D Interiors and seats 98 passengers in a centre-aisle, four-abreast configuration.

TURBOFAN ENGINES

The Embraer 190 is fitted with two underwing-mounted GE 34-8E-10 turbofan engines, rated at 82.29kN. The engines and engine nacelles are supplied by General Electric. The engines are equipped with Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC). The fully redundant, computerised management system continuously optimises the engine performance resulting in reduced fuel consumption and maintenance requirements.

The aircraft carries 13,000kg of fuel and is fitted with a Parker Hannifin fuel system.

The aircraft is equipped with a Hamilton Sundstrand auxiliary power unit and electrical system.

EMBRAER 190 PERFORMANCE

At long-range cruise speed and with 98 passengers, the Embraer 190 has a maximum range of 4,260km, providing the capability to operate between city pairs such as Dallas to Bogota, Paris to Moscow, Hong Kong to Bombay and Brasilia to Santiago.

The field performance enables the aircraft to operate at restriction-sensitive airports located in strategic places such as Santos-Dumont, Florence and London City Airports. The take-off and landing field lengths are 1,463m and 1,280m respectively. The GE engines are efficient and very quiet, allowing the aircraft to meet and exceed the noise and emission-related requirements established by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

The aircraft has a very fast airport turnaround time. Forward and aft doors on both sides of the fuselage allow rapid boarding and deplaning with simultaneous servicing. Refuelling takes ten minutes and is via a single point refuelling receptacle.

LANDING GEAR

The aircraft is fitted with Liebherr retractable tricycle type landing gear. Each unit is fitted with twin wheels.

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