Chromalloy Unveils FAA-Approved V2500 HPT Blade

Chromalloy
Credit: Chromalloy

BARCELONA—Chromalloy’s latest hot-section part, an IAE V2500 second-stage high-pressure turbine (HPT) blade, has been approved by the FAA and sent to its first customer, the company said Oct. 24.

“We shipped two shipsets to a customer on [Oct 22], and I think we have five or six built right now,” Chromalloy CEO Chris Celtruda told Aviation Week during MRO Europe here.

The privately held company, which says it has more FAA parts manufacturer approvals (PMAs) for HPT parts than any other supplier, sees a large market for its newest part and similar offerings

“On the part that we introduced today, there’s very little inventory available,” Celtruta said. “If there’s nothing available, and you’ve got an expensive asset sitting for 30, 60, 90, 120 days or longer, you become much more open to an alternate solution to get it back on wing.”

The V2500 blade joins a growing collection of Chromalloy PMA parts for the engine and the even more in-demand CFM56 line. The company has teamed up with FTAI Aviation to develop several CFM56 hot-section parts.

PMA accounts for about 25% of Chromalloy’s annual sales, Celtruda said. DER work is the lion’s share, at 50%. The rest is its turbine services business that manages customer engines and rebuilds them, often with Chromalloy content, for sale or lease.

The company’s top near-term priority: expanding in-house-developed PMA and DER options that support the most sought-after engines.

“In the next couple of years, the biggest consumer of our engineering resources is completing our high-value shipset on the [CFM56-7] and on the V2500 select [variants], both from a PMA and DER point of view,” Celtruda said.
 

Sean Broderick

Senior Air Transport & Safety Editor Sean Broderick covers aviation safety, MRO, and the airline business from Aviation Week Network's Washington, D.C. office.

Lee Ann Shay

As executive editor of MRO and business aviation, Lee Ann Shay directs Aviation Week's coverage of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), including Inside MRO, and business aviation, including BCA.

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