The FAA's Type Certificate Data Sheet A2NM lists 'I - Model 757-200 (approved December 21, 1982)'.[1]
- Start
- Dec 21, 198290% CONFIDENCEfrom the source · possible Dec 17 – 22, 1982
FAA Certifies the Boeing 757-200 After an Icing Delay
Main competitors
- McDonnell Douglas MD-80 · McDonnell Douglas
About 155 coach seats on MD-81/82/83/88 - range up to 2,550 nmi - in service since October 1980 (Swissair)
Source - Airbus A321 · Airbus
185 seats in a typical two-class layout (236 exit limit) - range about 5,900 km (3,200 nmi) - A320 family in service since April 1988
Source
The FAA approved the Boeing 757-200 on 21 December 1982 after an engine-icing problem found in testing pushed the schedule back a month. Eastern Air Lines took its first 757 the next day and started service on 1 January 1983.
- The FAA data sheet for Type Certificate A2NM approves the 757-200 on 21 December 1982; later entries add the 757-200PF (3 September 1987), the 757-200CB combi (7 September 1988) and the 757-300 (22 January 1999)[1]
- On a certification flight a 757 had ingested ice into its Rolls-Royce engines, setting off cockpit alerts and a roar that one person on board likened to a car without a muffler; the FAA would not certify until the fix was proven[5]
- On Friday 17 December 1982 Boeing was still without the certificate. The original target had been 23 November, and Eastern, which had advertised a 1 January start and needed delivery before year end for safe-harbor leasing tax benefits, waited while Rolls-Royce added heated spinner cones[6]
- Eastern took its first 757 on 22 December 1982 and began service on 1 January 1983[3]
Notable features
- 757-200 as certified: length 155 ft 3 in (47.32 m), wingspan 124 ft 10 in (38.05 m), MTOW 255,000 lb[4]
- 186 two-class seats (16 first, 170 economy) in Boeing's airport-planning layout; FAA exit limit 224 with over-wing exits or 239 with four doors[2]
- Boeing's planning charts show about 6,500 ft of takeoff field length at 255,000 lb with RB211-535E4B engines, sea level, standard day (read from graph)[2]