Looking Back at 2018: Propulsion Technology
Graham Warwick
GE Aviation Catalyst
GE AviationGeneral Electric’s Catalyst advanced turboprop began test runs in the Czech Republic at the end of 2017, and a second engine joined the test program in July 2018. The initial 1,240-shp Catalyst will power the single-turboprop Cessna Denali, which is scheduled to fly in 2019. Certification is planned for 2020.
GE Aviation GE9X
GE AviationGeneral Electric’s 100,000-lb.-thrust GE9X turbofan, with 134-in.-dia. fan, is under development to power the Boeing 777X widebody twinjet and made its delayed first flight under the wing of GE’s 747-400 flying testbed on March 13. The GE9X-powered 777-9 is scheduled to fly early in 2019.
Reaction Engines SABRE
Reaction Engines conceptThe UK’s Reaction Engines raised £26.5 million ($37.3 million) from BAE Systems, Boeing, Rolls-Royce and other investors in April to support development of its SABRE (Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine) for hypersonic and space-access vehicles. The engine core is planned to be tested in 2020.
Rolls-Royce Pearl
Rolls-RoyceRolls-Royce introduced its Pearl turbofan in May, and the 15,125-lb.-thrust Pearl 15 is powering Bombardier’s Global 5500/6500 business jets. Introducing technologies from the Advance2 demonstrator into the proven BR700, the engine produces 9% more thrust, 2 dB less noise and burns 7% less fuel.
Bell/Safran Hybrid-Electric
SafranSafran was selected in June to develop the hybrid-electric distributed propulsion system for Bell’s eVTOL air taxi, with first flight planned for 2021. Ground tests of the propulsion system—with turbo-generator, batteries and motors and generating an initial 100-kW power—began in July at Safran Helicopter Engines.
MagniX
MagniXElectric motor developer MagniX ran its 260-kW prototype motor driving a propeller for the first time in September. The startup plans to integrate its larger 280-kW production motor onto a testbed aircraft—likely a Cessna Caravan, replacing its PT6A turboprop—for flight tests expected toward the end of 2019.
Zunum/Safran Hybrid Electric
Zunum Aero conceptSafran Helicopter Engines was selected in October to supply a version of its Ardiden 3 turboshaft engine to drive the generator in the ZA10 12-seat hybrid-electric regional aircraft under development by Boeing-backed startup Zunum Aero. A modified Turbo Commander propulsion testbed will fly in 2019.
GE Aviation Affinity
GE Aviation conceptGeneral Electric unveiled the first purpose-designed supersonic business-jet engine on Oct. 15. Designed for the Aerion AS2, a Mach 1.4 trijet, GE’s Affinity is a two-shaft, twin-fan, medium-bypass turbofan with a core adapted from the CFM56. The engine is designed to enable the AS2 to meet Stage 5 noise limits.
VoltAero Hybrid-Electric
VoltAeroFrench startup VoltAero, led by former Airbus Chief Technology Officer Jean Botti, revealed in October that it is modifying a Cessna 337 Skymaster into the flying testbed for the “push-pull” hybrid-electric propulsion system planned for its Cassio 4-9-seat general-aviation aircraft. Flight tests are planned for 2019.
Diamond Hybrid-Electric
Diamond Aircraft IndustriesDiamond Aircraft Industries flew a multi-engine hybrid-electric aircraft, developed jointly with Siemens and modified from its DA40 piston twin, on Oct. 31 from Wiener Neustadt, Austria. The aircraft has a diesel engine and generator in the nose, batteries in the cabin and electric-driven propellers mounted on a canard foreplane.
New turboprops, big turbofans and the electrification of aircraft propulsion led the news in 2018 as developments in powerplant technology continued to set the pace for advances in aerospace.
