A drag-reducing upgrade kit developed for Boeing MD-80 operators has received supplemental type certification from the FAA.
Developed by Long Beach, Calif.-based engineering company Super98, the first part of the kit is initially designed to reduce fuel burn by 2.5% or more, with a further 1% benefit available from a more extensive upgrade. Fuel savings were verified in flight tests of an instrumented MD-83 in late 2010 and early 2011.
Fuel savings from the Phase 1 kit are estimated at more than $236,000 per aircraft per year based on a $3/gallon oil price, says Super98. The Phase 1 kit is divided into two sub-kits, the first of which includes flap hinge fairings forward and aft, aileron and elevator tab hinge covers, wing-body sealing and wing trailing edge seals. The second sub-kit includes flap segment seals, a windshield fairing, rudder lower gap seal, aileron edge seal, a main landing gear door skid, refaired tail skid and a horizontal stabilizer tip seal.
The additional modifications that will deliver a further 1% drag reduction require more time to install than overnight maintenance stops. They include slat lower trailing edge seals, slat segment gap seals and spoiler trailing edge extensions.
“We’ve got the first parts assembled and they’re ready to go,” says VP-Sales and Marketing Rolf Sellge. Production plans are currently based on providing up to six shipsets per month. Although MD-80s are being replaced throughout the type’s main operating arenas in the U.S. and Europe, Sellge says the wait list for newer Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 models means many will remain in service well into the decade and beyond. Breakeven for the drag kits comes in a year for Phase 1 and a year-and-a-half for the full kit, he adds.
Super98 expects to have the first kits installed around year-end and the first customer for the full package to be on contract in the first quarter of 2012. Overall, more than 700 MD-80s remain in service.
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