Embraer/FMA CBA 123 Vector

infobox Aircraft
name = CBA 123 Vector
type = Light business aircraft or
19 seat regional airliner
logo =
manufacturer = Embraer/Fábrica Militar de Aviones


caption = CBA 123 Vector during testing
designer =
first flight = 18 July 1990
introduction =
retired =
status = Retired
primary user =
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produced =
number built = 2
unit cost = >USD$5 million
developed from =
variants with their own articles =

The Embraer/FMA CBA 123 Vector is a 1990 turboprop aircraft designed for regional flights, carrying up to 19 passengers. The program arose from a partnership between the Brazilian company Embraer and the Argentine company Fábrica Militar de Aviones (FMA) (now named Lockheed Martin Aircraft Argentina SA), The project was an advanced turbopropeller aircraft for its time, including advanced technology in avionics, aerodynamics, and propulsion.

Design and development

By 1985, economic integration of South America seemed to be in progress with advances in the negotiations of Mercosur between the Brazilian and Argentine governments. In 1986, as a way of encouraging partnership between both countries, an agreement to develop a Brazilian-Argentine aircraft was signed between Embraer and FMA. The name "CBA" stood for "Cooperación Brasil-Argentina" (Spanish), and "Cooperação Brasil-Argentina" (Portuguese), meaning Brazil-Argentina Cooperation.

The costs and workload of the project were divided between Embraer (67%) and FMA (33%). The aircraft was designed as a high technology turboprop, fully certified under USA FAR 25, including propellers in pusher configuration to increase passenger comfort, wings with supercritical airfoils, FADEC system for engine control, plus EICAS and EFIS avionics systems. The "Vector" name was chosen by an international competition including more than 6,000 proposals.

The first prototype of the Vector flew on 18 July 1990, and the flight occurred with no problems. The official presentation on 30 July, 1990 was attended by Brazil President Fernando Collor de Mello and Argentine President Carlos Menem.

Program Cancellation

Unfortunately for Embraer and FMA, the high technology which would ensure the success of the CBA 123 was one of the reasons of its demise. The final unit cost of the aircraft — US$ 5 million — was too high to be absorbed by the market. Also, new investments from the Brazilian Government became unavailable due to the political crisis caused by the impeachment of Collor de Mello.

The CBA 123 Vector project, which cost US$ 300 million, was therefore cancelled, with only two prototypes built. Although a failure, the project gave Embraer maturity to work with new technologies, which led to the development of the successful Embraer ERJ 145 family of jets.

pecifications

aircraft specification

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
crew=Two pilots
capacity=19 passengers
length main=18.5 m
length alt=60.67 ft
span main=16.46 m
span alt=54 ft
height main=5.6 m
height alt=18.37 ft
empty weight main=4,900 kg
empty weight alt=10,800 lb
max takeoff weight main=7,711 kg
max takeoff weight alt=17,000 lb
engine (prop)= Garrett Systems TPF351-20A
type of prop=
number of props=2
power main=1,219 hp
power alt=909 kW
max speed main=593 km/h
max speed alt=368.25 mph
range main=1,610 km
range alt=1,000 mi
ceiling main=12,192 m
ceiling alt=40,000 ft

References

External links

* [http://www.embraer.com Embraer]
* [http://www.lockheedmartin.com/wms/findPage.do?dsp=fec&ci=11180&rsbci=147&fti=0&ti=0&sc=400 Lockheed Martin Aircraft Argentina]
* [http://www.jetsite.com.br/2006/mostra_fabricantes.asp?codi=31 Embraer history on Jetsite.com.br]
* [http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?front=yes&maxres=500&keywords=cba+123 CBA 123 Vector photos] on Airliners.net.

ee also

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