GE revives interest in A350 XWB engine ahead of 787 flight test

General Electric is hoping the 787 flight test program will help to break an impasse with Airbus regarding a second engine option for the A350 XWB.

The US engine-maker sees an opportunity to "restructure discussions" with Airbus on the inclusion of GEnx derived engine for the XWB, once two of Boeing's six 787 flight test aircraft take part in the certification campaign and validate the performance of the powerplant.

Airbus, which has selected the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engine, built out of the 787's Trent 1000 technology, has always maintained that a second engine was necessary for market reception.

Airbus says that the company is "always interested in exciting new technologies" for its aircraft and has an open line of communication with its engine providers.

GE on the other hand, was reluctant to offer an engine that would compete directly with its GE90 powerplant for the 777. Though the engine maker believes it can still offer a product that can exceed the performance of the Trent 1000, as well as the XWB by extension.

GE says that if reaches a deal to offer the current Boeing 787-optimized GEnx for the A350, it will only power the -800 and -900 variants.

Airbus has always maintained that it wanted a centerline engine for all three variants of its new long range twin though John Leahy,  chief operating officer for Airbus, opened the door in 2007 for a GEnx offering on only two of three XWB variants.

"We would look at it if it was a better engine [than the GEnx], that was for the -800 and -900 now with the -1000's coming at a later date," said Leahy.

408 of 483 orders accumulated for the A350 XWB are for the -800 or the -900 variant.

GE's renewed confidence in offering its engine for the A350 XWB stems from plans to reach spec SFC for the 787's GEnx-1B by revising the low pressure (LP) turbine of the engine by adding blades, vanes and nozzles to better guide the air through the engine. The revised LP turbine will be available in time for the first GEnx powered 787 to be delivered next year.

The engine maker had initially removed many of the airfoils for weight reduction, but found the lightweight design lacked the performance promised on the engine. It was widely believed that GE, as well as Rolls-Royce, had missed its SFC targets for the 787.

GE says it benefitted from the delay in the 787 program, using the time to improve durability of the engine combustor to offer a more mature engine at entry into service.

GE plans to build similar improvements into the GEnx-2B that will power the 747-8.

The engine maker will amend the certification of the GEnx-1B engine after flight testing the new LP turbine and combustor on the company's venerable 747-100 test bed.

Further more, GE is not shy about its goals for the GEnx engine and the 787 program, as it aims to exceed Trent 1000 SFC by 2% by 2011 with additional improvements to the GEnx engine.

Rolls-Royce recently acknowledged that its Trent 1000 engines will be within 1% of spec for 787 engines for its Block 4A improvement expected to be introduced early in the 787's production run next year.

As a result, GE hopes to exceed its original target SFC by 1% within a year after GEnx entry into service under the wing of the 787.