Optimizing Engines Through the Lifecycle

The technology generating vast quantities of data from new aircraft is well ahead of coherent plans for how to use that information.

With airlines set to modernize their fleets in the coming years in a big way, MROs will need to ramp up their services on a number of fronts.

As the GTF readies to enter service, editors Guy Norris and Graham Warwick discuss the state of engine technology, the next advances on the horizon and how propulsion has shaped the aviation industry over the last 100 years.

General Electric is launching a family of advanced turboprop (ATP) engines following its selection by Textron to power the company’s newly disclosed next-generation single-engine turboprop aircraft.

Engine makers are tackling the challenge of seemingly mutually exclusive goals: How to operate at pressure/temperature levels not seen before in commercial service, while offering reliability and better time-on-wing than today’s engines.

General Electric will develop Huntsville, Alabama-based production facilities dedicated to making materials for the ceramic matrix composites (CMC) that will feature in the new generation of CFM Leap and GE9X engines.

GE Aviation creates digital twins—data models that track specific parts by engine serial number—to enable predictive engine maintenance that eliminates unplanned aircraft down-time.

Global Jet Capital, a less than year-old finance provider, is buying GE’s business aircraft finance organization in a deal valued at $2.5 billion.

On September 24, 2015, GE formally opened its newly expanded Aviation facility in Veresegyház, Hungary.

Boeing is testing a deployable wingtip feature, the first of its kind to enter service on any commercial airliner, that will increase the 777X's overall span for flight and retract for ground operations.

The last several installments have looked at two options for staggering a fleet for shop visits.

Software update, expected by late August, could mean full icing flight envelope clearance for the fleet, if the FAA approves.

Last month we looked at engine health as a means of identifying engines that could be scheduled for a reduced workscope.

GE Aviation is building the future of aviation today by inventing and delivering magnificent technologies and advanced manufacturing methods, as well as harnessing the power of the Industrial Internet to enable unprecedented efficiencies. View this video to see how GE is making this happen now — all around the world.

Imagine a place where you can create a hailstorm or a monsoon at will, sometimes on the same day.

In the last installment, I discussed how to stagger your fleet by using minimum workscopes or quick turns. The use of these types of workscopes can expedite the return of engines to the operator.

Development of new repairs has the dual goal of increasing an engine’s time on wing while reducing an operator’s cost of ownership. Following is a recently released repair for CFM56* engines.

Gull wings, engines above the wing or embedded in the tail—all options gaining increased consideration for future fuel-efficient commercial aircraft.

Development of revolutionary engines at GE Aviation is setting the stage for the next 50 years in military aircraft propulsion, engineers there believe.

GE Aviation and Lufthansa Technik have laid the groundwork for a Europe-based GEnx-2B and GE9X full-service overhaul facility.

Lufthansa Technik AG and GE Aviation have announced they will build a new technology engine overhaul facility for GE engines that power Boeing’s two largest jetliners.

GE Aviation has built seven new factories in the last seven years, and is contemplating an eighth as it heads toward record production of the CFM56 next year.

Bigger is better when it comes to fuel burn in the GE9X engine.

CFM, a GE-Safran/Snecma joint venture, has seen at least eight sets of blades with fake records in recent months, alerts sent to its customers reveal.

Development of new repairs has the dual goal of increasing an engine’s time on wing while reducing an operator’s cost of ownership. Following are recently released repairs and programs for GE and CFM56* engines