EXTENDED TWIN-ENGINE OPERATIONS   ( ETOPS)

LONG RANGE OPERATIONS    ( LROPS)

EXTENDED RANGE OPERATIONS ( EROPS)

DEFENETION :-

ETOPS (Extended Twin-engine OPerationS) is an acronym An acronym (Greek ακρον, akron, "tip" + ονυμα, onyma, "name") is an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of words. Depending on how many of the constituent words begin with vowels and the phonotactics of the language an acronym exists in, acronyms can be pronounced as a word, as a series of the names of the letters, or some combination of the two. Sometimes acronyms have idiosyncratic pronunciations, like NAACP, which is pronounced "N double A C P".
for an International Civil Aviation Organization The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), an agency of the United Nations, develops the principles and techniques of international air navigation and fosters the planning and development of international air transport to ensure safe and orderly growth. The ICAO Council adopts standards and recommended practices concerning air navigation, prevention of unlawful interference, and facilitation of border-crossing procedures for international civil aviation.
(ICAO) rule permitting newer twin-engined commercial air transports to fly routes that, at some points, are further than a distance of 60 minutes flying time from an emergency or diversion airport Diversion airports are suitable airport capable of handling a particular ETOPS rated airplane during an emergency landing and whose flying distance at the point of emergency shall not exceed the ETOPS diversion period of that particular airplane.

It is, therefore, important that any airports designated as an en route diversion airport have the capabilities, services and facilities to safely support that particular aeroplane and that the weather conditions at the time of arrival provide a high assurance that safe landing is achievable with an engine and/or systems malfunctioning.
This definition allows twin-engine airliners—like Boeing The   Boeing  Company is a leading American aircraft and aerospace manufacturer, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, with its largest production facilities near Seattle, Washington. It is also a defense contractor. It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BA and is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average

History
Before 1950s
The Boeing  757

The Boeing 757 is a medium-range transcontinental commercial passenger airplane manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It was designed for Eastern Airlines and British Airways to replace the Boeing 727 and entered service in 1983.
Introduction
The 757 is designed by Boeing to complement the 767 on less dense routes. It has transatlantic range, and was one of the earliest Boeing  767 .

The Boeing 767 is a commercial passenger airplane manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
Variants
• 767-200 - The first model of the 767, launched in 1978 and produced from 1981 to 1994. It entered service with United Airlines in 1982.
• 767-200ER - An extended-range variant first delivered to El Al in 1984. It became the first 767 to complete a nonstop transatlantic journey, and broke the flying distance record for twinjet airliners several times.
 

Boeig 777 ,The Boeing 777 is a family of long range widebody twin engine airliners built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It carries between 305 and 550 passengers and has a range spanning from 5,600 to 8,870 nautical miles (10,400 to 16,400 km). Its first flight was in 1994.
Distinguishing features of the 777 include the set of six wheels on each main landing gear, its perfectly circular fuselage cross section, and the blade like rear tailcone.
Airbus
Airbus S.A.S. is a commercial aircraft manufacturer based in Toulouse, France. It was incorporated in 2001 under French law as a simplified joint stock company or "S.A.S." (Société par Actions Simplifiée).
Airbus is jointly held by EADS (80%) and BAE SYSTEMS (20%), Europe's two largest military suppliers and manufacturers. As of 2004, its CEO is Noël Forgeard. It is also known by its former name Airbus Industrie, or just Airbus.
Airbus aircraft  A300.
The Airbus A300 is a short to medium range, wide-body family of aircraft manufactured by Airbus Industrie between 1972 and the present.
Introduction
The A300 was the first twin-engined widebody airliner in the world. It inspired Boeing twins such as Boeing 767 and 777 and paved the way for ETOPS flights.
Background
Taking on the major aircraft manufacturers 30 years ago required more than nerve, it required a new approach to the market. Although the consortium partners of Airbus were well known in aviation circles, Airbus itself was an unknown entity.
Airbus A320 .
The Airbus A320 is a short to medium range commercial passenger aircraft manufactured by Airbus Industrie. It is the best-selling passenger aircraft in the world (at 2003) and was the first airliner with a digital fly-by-wire flight control system, where the pilot controls flight surfaces through the use of electronic signals rather than mechanically with pulleys and hydraulic systems.

Airbus- series, A330
The Airbus A330 is a large capacity medium to long range commercial passenger airplane manufactured by Airbus Industrie. It was developed at the same time as the four-engined A340.
Airbus intended the A330 to compete directly in the ETOPS (Extended Twin-engine Operations) market, which was effectively established by the Boeing 767. The Boeing 777 also belongs to this class; the Boeing 757 shares a heritage with the 767 but lacks the range, and is not wide-bodied.
to fly long distance routes (especially over water, desert or remote polar areas) that were previously off-limits to twin-engined aircraft. ETOPS is sometimes read (humorously) as Engines Turn or Passengers Swim. ETOPS is being replaced by a newer system, referred to as EROPS, or Extended Range OPerationS, which will affect all aircraft, not merely those with a twin-engine configuration.
History
The first transatlantic crossing was made in 1919, in 16 hours, by RAF The Royal Air Force (often abbreviated to RAF) is the air force of the United Kingdom.
History of the RAF
The Royal Flying Corps was formed by Royal Warrant on May 13, 1912 superseding the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers. The Royal Naval Air Service was formed shortly after the outbreak of World War I. Both services saw heavy action during the war. The two services were amalgamated on April 1, 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. The RAF was under the supervision of the Air Ministry and was the world's second independent air force, after the German Luftwaffe.
 pilots Alcock and Brown

Alcock and Brown (Captain John Alcock and Lieutenant Arthur Whitten Brown) made the first nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1919.
Flying a modified Vickers Vimy IV twin-engined bomber, they took off from Newfoundland in the late afternoon June 14, 1919 and landed in a marsh in Connemara, Ireland, at 8:40am on June 15, 1919. They flew 1890 miles in 15 hours 57 minutes, at an average speed of 118 mph. Their aircraft was powered by two Rolls Royce Eagle engines of 360 HP each.

 pilot fly with a twin engined Vickers Vimy

Vickers Vimy
Description
Role Heavy Bomber
Crew
First Flight 30 November 1917
Entered Service 1918
Manufacturer Vickers
Dimensions
Length 43 ft 6.5 in 13.27 m
Wingspan 68 ft 1 in 20.75 m
Height 15 ft 7.5 in 4.76 m
Wing area ft² m²
Weights
Empty 7,104 lb 3,222 kg
Loaded lb kg
Maximum takeoff 10,884 lb 4,937 kg

Powerplant

Due to the unreliability of piston engines in those days (see internal combustion engine An  internal combustion engine is any engine that operates by burning its fuel inside the engine. This can be contrasted with external combustion engines such as steam engines and Stirling engines, which burn their fuel outside the engine. Jet engines and gas turbines use internal combustion, but the term 'internal combustion engine' normally refers to engines in which combustion is intermittent and there exists reciprocating machinery.
long distance flight using twin engines was considered risky. A flagship of the piston era, the 4-engined Lockheed Constellation
The Lockheed Constellation (affectionately known as the "Connie") was a four-engine propeller-driven aircraft built by Lockheed between 1943 and 1958 in its Burbank, California facility. 856 aircraft were produced, in four model variations. It was used as both a civilian airliner and U.S. military air transport plane, seeing service in the Berlin Airlift and as the presidential aircraft for President Eisenhower.
Airliner, was regarded as so unreliable that it was jokingly dubbed "the most reliable 3-engined airplane flying"!
The FAA The Federal Aviation Administration is the entity of the United States government which regulates and oversees all aspects of aviation in the U.S.
History
The Air Commerce Act of May 20, 1926, is the cornerstone of the Federal Government's regulation of civil aviation. This landmark legislation was passed at the urging of the aviation industry, whose leaders believed the airplane. in 1953, having recognised piston engine limitations, introduced the '60-minute rule' for 2- and 3-engine aircraft. This rule states that the flight path of these types of airplanes shall not be further than 60 minutes flying time from any airport. This forced these airplanes, on certain routes, to fly a dogleg path to stay within regulations; they were totally excluded from certain routes due to lack of en-route airports. The 60-minute period is also called 60-minute diversion period. The totally excluded area is called the Exclusion Zone.

Early turbine engine experience
Turbine engines (see Jet engine )

A jet engine is a type of air-breathing turbine engine, often used on aircraft. The principle of all jet engines is essentially the same. The engine draws air in at the front and compresses it. The air then combines with fuel, is typically ignited by flame in the eddy of a flame holder, and the engine burns the resulting mixture. The combustion greatly increases the volume of the gases. such as Pratt and Whitney  .

 Pratt & Whitney is a very large American aircraft engine manufacturer. Pratt & Whitney engines are widely used in both civil and military aircraft.
The company was founded in 1860 by Francis Pratt & Amos Whitney, and has its headquarters in Hartford, Connecticut. As one of the "big three" aero-engine manufacturers the company competes with General Electric and Rolls-Royce. In addition to aircraft engines, Pratt & Whitney manufactures fixed gas turbines for industry and power generation, marine turbines, and railway locomotive engines.
.PW JT8D engines, The Pratt & Whitney JT8D jet engine was introduced by Pratt & Whitney in February 1964 with the inaugural flight of the Boeing's 727. Today, the eight models that comprise the JT8D standard engine family cover the thrust range from 14,000 to 17,400 pounds (62 to 77 kN) and power 727, 737, and DC-9 aircraft. More than 11,800 JT8D engines have been produced.
A modern derivative, the -200 series, covers the 18,500 to 21,700 pound (82 to 97 kN) thrust range and powers the McDonnell Douglas MD-80. Since starting service in 1980, more than 2,900 -200 series engines have been produced.
series in the 1950s and 1960s demonstrated that they have much higher thrust and reliability than any then available piston engines. It was then powering the 2-engined Boeing 737 .
The  Boeing 737  is a popular short-to-medium range commercial passenger jet aircraft continuously manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes since 1967. Over 5,000 have been sold since its introduction in 1967, more than any other commercial airliner, and more than Airbus' entire product line.

 
History
The 737 was born out of Boeing's need to field a competitor in the short-range, series and 3-engined Boeing 727
The Boeing 727 was, for a very long time, the most popular jet-liner in the world. The 727 first took the skies during the 1960s, much earlier than its bigger and more famous sister the Boeing 747.
The 727 design arose as a compromise between United Airlines, American Airlines, and Eastern Airlines over the configuration of the successor to the Boeing 707. United Airlines wanted a four-engined aircraft for its flights to high-altitude airports, especially its hub in Stapleton International Airport. American wanted a twin-engined aircraft for efficiency reasons. Eastern wanted a third engine for its overwater flights to the Caribbean. Eventually, the three airlines agreed on a trijet, and thus the 727 was born.
Because of its excellent record, the '60-minute rule' was waived for 3-engined Boeing 727 allowing it to fly transatlantic routes. This opened the way for the development of widebody intercontinental trijets such as Lockheed L-1011
Lockheed L-1011

Orbital Sciences' "Stargazer" Lockheed L-1011
The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar was the third widebody passenger jet airliner to reach the marketplace, following the Boeing 747 "jumbo jet" and the Douglas DC-10. In the 1960s, American Airlines approached Lockheed and competitor Douglas with a need for an aircraft smaller than the existing 747, but still capable of flying to distant locales such as London, the Caribbean, and Latin America from company hubs in Dallas and New York. Lockheed answered the call with the TriStar. Perhaps ironically, American never flew the "Ten Eleven," purchasing many DC-10s instead.
Tristar and McDonnell Douglas DC-10
The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is a three-engined long-range airliner, with two engines mounted on underwing pylons and a third engine at the base of the vertical stabilizer. The model was a successor to the Douglas DC-8 for long-range operations, and competed in the same markets as the Airbus A300, Boeing 747 "jumbo jet", and the physically similar  Lockheed L-1011 TriStar. Some were built for the United States Air Force as air-to-air refueling tankers, designated the KC-10 Extender. By then only 2-engined jets were restricted by the '60-minute rule'.
Early twin-engine high-bypass turbofan airliners

Outside the USA, other countries followed ICAO regulations, which allowed for a 90 minutes diversion time. This fact was exploited by Airbus
Airbus S.A.S. is a commercial aircraft manufacturer based in Toulouse, France. It was incorporated in 2001 under French law as a simplified joint stock company or "S.A.S." (Société par Actions Simplifiée).
Airbus is jointly held by EADS (80%) and BAE SYSTEMS (20%), Europe's two largest military suppliers and manufacturers. As of 2004, its CEO is Noël Forgeard. It is also known by its former name Airbus Industrie, or just Airbus.
launching the world's first twin-engined high-bypass turbofan widebody A wide-body aircraft is a large airliner with a fuselage diameter of about 6 metres and twin aisles. Passengers are usually seated 7 to 10 abreast. For comparison, a traditional narrow-body airliner has a diameter of 3 to 4 metres, a single aisle, and seats arranged 4 to 6 abreast. Typical wide-body aircraft can accommodate between 200 and 600 passengers, where the largest narrow-bodies carry about 280. Freight-only versions exist as well, which are similar bar the cargo-loading arrangements
 airliner, the Airbus A300 .
The Airbus A300 is a short to medium range, widebody family of aircraft manufactured by Airbus Industrie between 1972 and the present.
Introduction
The A300 was the first twin-engined widebody airliner in the world. It inspired Boeing twins such as Boeing 767 and 777 and paved the way for ETOPS flights.
Background
Taking on the major aircraft manufacturers 30 years ago required more than nerve, it required a new approach to the market. Although the consortium partners of Airbus were well known in aviation circles, Airbus itself was an unknown entity.
 in 1974. It was about three quarters the size of DC10s and Tristars and for an equivalent load for the same distance, is cheaper to operate. The A300 was eagerly snapped up by airlines the world over. The failure rate of this early high-bypass turbofan engine was almost as good as the JT8D and nearly 20 times better than a piston engine. This fact was not lost to Boeing, the Boeing 757
The Boeing 757 is a medium-range transcontinental commercial passenger airplane manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It was designed for Eastern Airlines and British Airways to replace the Boeing 727 and entered service in 1983.

Introduction
The 757 is designed by Boeing to complement the 767 on less dense routes. It has transatlantic range, and was one of the earliest  Boeing 767 .
The Boeing 767 is a commercial passenger airplane manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
Variants
• 767-200 - The first model of the 767, launched in 1978 and produced from 1981 to 1994. It entered service with United Airlines in 1982.
• 767-200ER - An extended-range variant first delivered to El Al in 1984. It became the first 767 to complete a nonstop transatlantic journey, and broke the flying distance record for twinjet airliners several times was the response.
Early ETOPS experience
All the developments in aircraft technologies has led the FAA and the ICAO to realise that it is perfectly safe for a properly designed twin-engined airliner to conduct intercontinental transoceanic flights. The guidelines issued form the ETOPS regulations.
FAA was the first to approve ETOPS guidelines in 1985. It spelled out conditions that need to be fulfilled before the grant of 120 minutes diversion period, which is sufficient for direct transatlantic flights. Today, ETOPS forms the bulk of transatlantic flights.

Boeing 767-300ER, the ETOPS pioneer

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration is the entity of the United States government which regulates and oversees all aspects of aviation in the U.S.
History
The Air Commerce Act of May 20, 1926, is the cornerstone of the Federal Government's regulation of civil aviation. This landmark legislation was passed at the urging of the aviation industry, whose leaders believed the airplane gave the first ETOPS rating to  Trans World Airlines for Boeing 767 service between St. Louis and  Frankfurt, allowing TWA to fly its aircraft up to 90 minutes away from the nearest airfield: this was later extended to 120 minutes after a federal evaluation of the airline's operating procedures.
ETOPS extensions
In 1988, the FAA amended the ETOPS regulation to allow the extension to 180 minutes diversion period subject to stringent technical and operational qualifications. This made 95% of the earth's surface available to ETOPS flights. The first such flight was conducted in 1989. This set of regulations was subsequently adopted by the Joint Aviation Authorities, ICAO and other aviation regulatory bodies worldwide.
In this manner 757 series, 767 series, some Boeing 737 series, the Airbus A300-600, A310 series, A320 series and the A330 series were approved for ETOPS operations. Success of ETOPS airplanes like 767 and 777 killed the intercontinental trijets, forcing Boeing to terminate the MD-11 programme and scale down the production of Boeing 747.

ETOPS permitted area of operation. Light blue and lighter shade of beige are areas covered under ETOPS-120min rules. Darker shades of blue and gray are areas covered under ETOPS-180min rules. Dark blue and dark gray represents areas that are off-limits to ETOPS flights.

The North Atlantic airways are the most heavily utilized oceanic routes in the world. Most are conveniently covered by ETOPS-120min rules. It is not necessary to utilize 180-min rules for such routes. However, many of the North Atlantic diversion airports, especially the Icelandic and Greenland ones, are subjected to adverse weather conditions making them unavailable for use under the 120-min rules. As the 180-min rules is the upper limit, the , JAA has given 15% extension to the 120-min rules to deal with such contigencies, giving the ETOPS-138min thereby allowing ETOPS flights with such airports closed.
In the North Pacific, ETOPS-180 (180 minutes) is satisfied by the availability of airports in the Aleutians  Islands and

 Midway Atoll . As the Aleutians  airports are prone to adverse weather conditions and volcanic activities, Boeing subsidised Midway Atoll diversion airport to enable the 777 to fly the North Pacific routes. After a petition from Boeing and United Airlines, in 2001, the FAA allowed a 15% extension to the ETOPS-180 rules bringing them to ETOPS-207. The approval is granted only to the 777. This approval is granted only if Northern Pacific enroute diversion airports are closed.
However, the JAA differed because it was argued that ETOPS-180 is already the upper limit and such extension may compromise safety as the airliners are only certificated for at most, the ETOPS-180 rating. This difference remains until today.

 
Early ETOPS
 

The regulations allows an airliner to have 120 ETOPS-120 rating on its entry into service. ETOPS-180 is only possible after 1 year of trouble-free 120-min ETOPS experience. Boeing has convinced the FAA that it could deliver an airliner with ETOPS-180 on its entry into service. This process is called Early ETOPS. Thus the Boeing 777 was the first aircraft to carry an ETOPS rating of 180-min at its introduction.
The Joint Aviation Authorities, however disagreed and the Boeing 777 was rated ETOPS-120 in Europe on its entry into service. European airlines operating the 777 must demonstrate 1 year of trouble-free 120-min ETOPS experience before obtaining 180-min ETOPS for the 777.
ETOPS exclusions
 

Private jets are exempted from ETOPS by the FAA, but are subject to the ETOPS-120 minute rule in the JAA's jurisdiction. Several commercial airline routes are still off-limits to twinjets because of ETOPS regulations. They are routes traversing the South Pacific, Southern Indian Ocean such as Perth, Australia to Johannesburg, South Africa and Antarctica such as Auckland, New Zealand to Buenos Aires, Argentina.

ETOPS classifications
• ETOPS-60
• ETOPS-90
• ETOPS-120/ETOPS-138
• ETOPS-180/ETOPS-207
• ETOPS-360

 Webmaster: Mustafa Albadawi
 Send to    m.albadawi@telenet.be   with questions or comments about this site.
   Copyright © 2008 Aviation & Techniques
    Updated: 18/07/2009