Engines Engines

NEWNEW BIZAVBIZAV ENGINESENGINES by Thierry Dubois Engine development is a three-front campaign to derive more thrust from every atomized droplet of fuel while simultaneously raising reliability, hushing noise and cutting downtime for maintenance. In this special report, we examine how the manufacturers of business aircraft engines are approaching this formidable and perennial quest, and how they are progressing with their product development programs. With Passport and H-Series, GE working both ends of spectrum GE Aviation is closing in on certifica- through,” he said. Operators will no lon- tion of its flagship turbofan for business ger need to lubricate the blades and pas- aviation–the Passport–and at the same time sengers will feel less vibration. Specific striving to become a stronger player in the fuel consumption is 8 percent better than turboprop market with the H-Series. that of the Rolls-Royce BR725, accord- The 16,500-pound-thrust Passport, ing to O’Day. “This turbofan is designed destined to power Bombardier’s Global for business aviation–range, low noise and 7000 and 8000, entered flight-test late low vibration,” he said. last year and is approaching the first fan The Passport marks the commercial blade-out trial. Water ingestion was on debut of oxide-oxide (ox-ox) ceramic-ma- the test card last month at GE’s facility trix composite materials. “The exhaust in Peebles, Ohio. As of early May, eight mixer, the inner cowl duct, the exhaust Service entry is imminent for the HF120, top, the Passport test engines had accumulated cone are all ox-ox,” O’Day said. This engine that powers the HondaJet. Meanwhile, flight 1,400 hours and 1,700 cycles. The total lightweight material resists the high tem- tests of the Passport, above, continue. That engine number of engines involved in the devel- peratures found in the exhaust area, thus will power the new Bombardier Global 7000/8000. opment phase is to be 10, built around improving durability and fuel consump- eight cores. “We have used eight engines tion, according to its designers. of those blades is four times smoother to accumulate the cycles,” Shawn O’Day, Also boosting efficiency, said O’Day, is than on conventional blades. GE Aviation’s senior v-p for business and the super-finish surface on high-pressure The CF34-3 program endures with general aviation, told AIN. compressor blades. “On a super-finished Bombardier’s launch last year of the O’Day said the team is happy with blade, because it’s so smooth, you have a Challenger 650, a further evolution of the new technologies introduced on the layer of air that remains over the surface, the Challenger 600 series. The 650 will be engine. With the fan blisk, for exam- keeping contaminants from sticking on powered by a pair of 9,220-pound-thrust ple, “the airflow sees a smoother fan, a the blade. The blade remains cleaner and CF34-3BMTOs. The new engine will smooth front end of the engine as it flows more efficient,” O’Day said. The surface be able to use its APR rating, normally NEW BIZAV ENGINES activated only when one engine fails, for better takeoff performance. “What we’ve done is make the extra thrust available for takeoff regardless of whether or not an engine is out,” O’Day said. The addi- tional power is pilot-selectable via a new performance thrust setting. The higher thrust setting does not affect engine maintenance, provided it is used on no more than 10 percent of takeoffs, according to Bombardier. The CF34-3BMTO will also offer a reduced takeoff thrust mode to cut maintenance, according to GE. The GE Honda HF120, rated at 2,095 pounds of thrust, received FAA type cer- New Rolls-Royce Engines Enter Service tification in December 2013 and an FAA Rolls-Royce appears to have no business aviation development program under way but says it is production certificate (for the engines to be keeping busy with in-production engines. built in Burlington, N.C.) this past March. “The AE3007-C2 has just gone into operations on the Cessna Citation X+,” a spokesman told AIN. It is getting closer to entering service, as The newest version of the AE3007 turbofan features a dual-channel Fadec and provides sea-level stat- HondaJet won provisional FAA certifica- ic takeoff thrust of 7,034 pounds, flat rated up to 86 degrees F (30 degrees C). Another variant, the tion for the HondaJet on March 27 and 9,020-pound-thrust (ISA+15) AE3007-A2, powers the Embraer Legacy 650. expects full certification “in the next few A recent evolution of the BR725, the 16,900-pound-thrust BR725-A1-12, powers the Gulfstream G650ER. months,” with deliveries to begin shortly “It has upgrades on the Fadec, including the fuel management system,” the spokesman said. after. GE Aviation itself has ordered two of Over the last few years, Rolls-Royce has not been chosen for any new major business-jet pro- the aircraft for its corporate fleet and plans gram. GE, Pratt & Whitney Canada and Snecma were picked for Bombardier’s Global 7000/8000, to take delivery of them in 2017. Gulfstream G500/G600 and Dassault’s Falcon 5X programs, respectively. n GE Honda last fall announced a joint project with Sierra Industries of Uvalde, Texas, to develop an engine retrofit pro- will be offered as an upgrade and possi- additive- layer manufacturing on the gram for the Cessna CitationJet, CJ1 and bly for retrofit. H-Series for the fuel injector used in the CJ1+. The program is known as Sapphire. With nine applications for the H-Series starting phase. “We have the 1950-rpm gearbox that’s Turboprop Segment so far, GE plans to build more than 100 engines this year. The three models–the entering service on the G90XT this fall, as On the H-Series turboprops, GE con- H75, H80 and H85 (750, 800 and 850 shp, well. We’re also offering a 300-amp start- tinues to develop an electronic engine respectively)–might be joined in future er-generator that’s going to be available in control unit that is slated to enter ser- by a more powerful version. “It is at the all H-series production engines,” he added. vice next year on the Nextant G90XT. study stage,” O’Day said. GE Aviation has submitted an applica- “A single-lever control will simplify The most recent first flight of an air- tion to the EASA for approval to burn S10 the pilot’s workload,” O’Day said, but craft fitted with H-Series engines was diesel fuel in its turboprops. “We received he made it clear it will not be on every logged in January, when the Nextant EASA approval to conduct field evalu- engine, “because there are aircraft con- G90XT took to the air. The G90XT is ations in Brazilian agricultural aircraft,” siderations to be taken into account. a remanufactured Beechcraft King Air O’Day said, and GE is about to start trials You need to go from a two-lever cock- C90A equipped with H75s. Cleveland, with these operators, who hope to cut their pit to a one-lever cockpit; it’s not just an Ohio-based Nextant was expecting air- fuel costs by up to 25 percent. The com- engine change.” craft certification this spring. pany is also working with Brazil’s ANAC Once the new system is certified, it O’Day noted that GE is using civil aviation authority. o NEW BIZAV ENGINES Snecma Silvercrest Advances Toward Certification by Charles Alcock Snecma is proceeding with the development Silvercrest engine and one of its original Rolls- on schedule and the program is moving toward of the 11,450-pound-thrust Silvercrest turbo- Royce Speys, and has already logged more than certification according to its revised schedule. fan, which is to power the Dassault Falcon 5X and 200 hours of tests. Last month Snecma was ex- From the beginning of the Silvercrest design Cessna Citation Longitude twinjets. A number of pecting to begin a fifth series of tests, and these process, Snecma has used sister company Tur- operability and performance aspects have been will continue throughout the summer with a view bomeca’s experience in helicopter turboshaft de- validated in tests conducted so far, according to to logging about another 100 hours. Certifica- sign for the centrifugal compressor stage. Another the France-based engine manufacturer. tion by the European Aviation Safety Agency is sister company, Belgium-based Techspace Aero, At last month’s EBACE show in Geneva, Dassault now expected to be complete in the first half of which specializes in low-pressure compressors acknowledged that it is now facing the possibility next year. (boosters), has also been involved in the design that some delays in the development of the aircraft’s To date, complete engines have logged nearly and production of the Silvercrest. Snecma Silvercrest engine could mean changes to 2,500 hours of ground tests, in addition to a num- While testing advances, Snecma is finalizing the 5X timetable. “Our engineering team is current- ber of hours of partial tests. The company reports arrangements for the Silvercrest production facil- ly analyzing Snecma’s revised development plan and that it has demonstrated nominal and maximum ities. The engine assembly line at Villaroche, near assessing possible impact for the 5X program,” said takeoff thrust, along with what Snecma describes Paris, is now operational. Its Safran sister com- Dassault chairman and CEO Eric Trappier. The Silver- as “excellent engine operability and very satisfac- pany Aircelle is ready for propulsion system in- crest is now expected to complete certification in next tory dynamic performance.” tegration, as well as engine build-up and nacelle year’s first half.

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