Embraer has finished roughly half of its series of critical design reviews (CDRs) for the new E190-E2, and as of early September had released drawings for major parts of the airplane’s all-new wings. Scheduled for entry into service before the end of the first half of 2018, the 106-seat jet cruised through its joint definition phase in late May, by which time Embraer had chosen all suppliers. By the end of the year, the company expects to complete its CDRs and cut the airplane’s first metal at one of its two “centers of excellence” in Evora, Portugal, ahead of the start of final assembly around the end of 2015 and first flight in 2016.
Meanwhile, the E2 family’s second iteration, the 120-seat E195-E2, has entered joint definition and remains due to enter service a year after certification of its smaller sibling. Finally, Embraer has begun wind-tunnel testing on the smallest of the three-member family, the 88-seat E175-E2, scheduled for service entry in 2020.
Speaking with AIN from Embraer’s headquarters in São Jose dos Campos, Brazil, Embraer Commercial Aviation COO Luis Carlos Affonso and senior E2 program manager Fernando Antonio Oliveira delivered an assessment of the project’s development.
“We are releasing drawings for our rigs and test benches, which are very important in the critical path toward first flight and certification,” he said. “We are also starting with the drawing release and the manufacture of the iron bird, which is where we’ll test the flight control systems.”
In fact, full fly-by-wire constitutes one of the program’s most conspicuous advances over the current generation of E-Jets, which uses traditional controls for its ailerons. As a result, engineers could reduce the sizes of the family’s empennages, helping to cut drag. “You can operate with a center of gravity that is further back, so you need to produce less force from the empennage, which again allows you to have less drag on the airplane,” explained Affonso.
Other major improvements include a change from GE CF34s in the current E-Jets to the E2’s Pratt & Whitney PW1000G-family “geared turbofan” engines; one variant, the PW1700G, will power the E2 version of the E175, while the E190 and E195 will use the larger PW1900G. “That’s another point that I like to highlight,” said Affonso. “As we did on the current E-Jets, we are developing two sets of wings, using two different engine types from Pratt and going for different landing gear because the engines are different. So this means more investment, more engineering and flight testing for us. But for sure we will deliver much more optimized airplanes to the market and to our customers.” Embraer expects to invest $1.7 billion over eight years in the development of the E2s, noted Affonso.
Although the PW1900G shares a common core with engine type that suffered an uncontained failure during ground testing of the Bombardier CSeries in May, Affonso said the modifications needed to its oil containment system would not compromise the E2’s schedule.
“Our development is continuing without any impact, so we are progressing with installation, all the interfaces, so everything is progressing very smoothly,” said Affonso. “For sure Pratt & Whitney is changing, as they stated, the oil system of the engine type, and they’re doing the same for us. But this will be done well in time before we really need the engine.”
Responsible not only for systems integration and final assembly but also for fabrication of a high proportion of the airplane’s structural components, Embraer builds the E2’s wings, most of the fuselage and the landing gear. Fuselage subassembly suppliers include Triumph, which builds the section just aft of the wings as well as the airplanes’ rudders and ailerons, and Aernnova, which builds the empennage. Other suppliers and partners include Liebherr (control systems for flaps and slats), Moog (fly-by-wire), Rockwell Collins (horizontal stabilizer control system), UTC Aerospace Systems (wheels, brakes, APU, electrical system), Intertechnique (engine and APU fuel feed, pressure refueling, fuel transfer, fuel tank inerting and ventilation, and fuel gauging and control) and Crane Aerospace & Electronics (electronic control module for landing gear, brake control systems and proximity sensors).
Although Embraer promotes the principle of cockpit and systems architecture commonality between the current E-Jets and the E2s for an easy transition from an operational standpoint, the company will enjoy little production commonality due to the fairly extensive design changes. Consequently, it will have to install all new rigs, and face a challenging two-year period during which production of the current E-Jet and E2 variants will overlap.
“In terms of the part numbers, we do not have a huge commonality...The wings are much bigger, we are stretching the airplanes, so the airplane in the end is a much more capable airplane,” said Oliveira. “We did not try to compromise performance or passenger comfort with too much re-use. On the other hand, we kept, let’s say, what is really important for the airlines so they have a very smooth entry into service and airplane introduction."
