Malev aircraft the quietest
Saturday 18, December 2010
A survey organized by Prague Airport shows that Malév planes are the quietest in the turboprop category, coming ahead of a German and an Austrian airline, which received second and third place, respectively.
This meant that Malév picked up The Quietest Airline 2010 award from senior executives of the Prague hub and the City District of Prague 6 where the airport is based. The organizers announced the competition – now in its fourth year – with the aim of motivating airlines to adopt a positive approach to utilizing environmentally-friendly procedures and technologies.
Malév gradually introduced the fast, cost-efficient, quiet and environmentally-friendly Bombardier Q400 aircraft into the fleet from 2009. Thanks to the fleet restructuring programme, today Malév has a fleet of just two types that are simple to operate and maintain: 18 Boeing 737 NG jet aircraft and four Q400s conducting regional services. These latter turboprop planes have excellent flying characteristics, in addition to which their low fuel consumption means that the per seat operational costs of this type are the best on the regional aircraft market; the fuel consumption of a Q400 is 30% less than a similar category aircraft operating with a jet engine.
Noise reduction equipment and technology on Q400 turboprops
In order to reduce noise levels Bombardier fitted the Q400 type with advanced technology, which protect both the passengers and the external environment from the impacts of noise. The Q400 is fitted with Pratt & Whitney Canada PW150A engines and state-of-the-art Dowty R408 type propeller with six composite blades. The propeller operational range is 850, 900 and 1020 rpm, although the Malév aircraft are equipped with a system that makes it possible to implement the so-called “Reduced Np Landing’ procedure, in the course of which the propeller speed can be cut back from the normal landing rpm of 1020 to 850 rpm. This is important because the single greatest noise source in turboprop aircraft is the propeller, the noise of which – apart from its setup – is largely tied to its speed.
The Q400s are also fitted with a noise suppression system for the passengers. Microphones concealed in the cabin measure noise levels and this information is relayed to an onboard microprocessor together with the engine performance and cabin pressure data. After this the onboard computer sends the information to Active Tuned Vibration Attenuator, so called ATVAs, which are mounted on the fuselage frames. The absorbers produce counter vibrations that all but cancel out the original vibrations. The result is a sharp reduction in both cabin vibration and noise.
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