In more ways than one, engine technology is the propelling force of the aerospace industry. Airframers learned a long time ago never to launch a new aircraft unless at least one of the big engine makers was ready -- both technically and financially -- to support it.
That's partly why I'm fascinated by the General Electric GE38-1B [shown at right], the 7,500shp monster currently under development to power the new Sikorsky CH-53K. Pardon the cliche, but it literally goes where no engine has gone before, filling a yawning gap in the market for turboshaft engines.Don't think for a second that Sikorsky is the only airframer that recognizes such a new opportunity. Expect both helicopter and fixed-wing manufacturers to quickly leap into the market space created by the existence of an engine in a previously untapped thrust-range.
That's why I wrote a one-page profile of GE's plans for the GE38-1B in next week's Flight International magazine. Click on the link below to get a sneak-preview.
GE taps new market with GE38-1B
By Stephen Trimble / Washington DC
Two
extremes divide the current market for large turboshaft engines. Europrop
International occupies the high-end with the 10,000shp-class TP400. Rolls-Royce
dominates the low-end with the 6,000shp-class Rolls Royce AE2100/1107C family.
Between
these extremes lies a currently vacant, vast middle ground ripe for development
and growth over the next few decades.
First to
market in this unpopulated market region will unquestionably be the General
Electric 7,500shp GE38-1B, selected 18 months ago to power the 84,700lb US
Marine Corps Sikorsky CH-53K.
GE has
finally disclosed the first details about the GE38's closely-held development
programme, as well as offered a glimpse of the company's vision for the
heavylift market space.
Ed
Birtwell, GE's vice president and general manager for turboshaft engines,
compared the new GE38's market potential to that of the company's flagship
T700, a 3,000shp-class engine that powers thousands of Sikorsky Black Hawk and
Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopters, among many others.
"We hope
that this is a programme that has the success of the T700 with other
applications," Birtwell said.
To realize
that potential, new classes of heavylift helicopters and medium-lift,
fixed-wing transports will have to emerge over the next decade. The market
could include growth versions of existing helicopters like the CH-53K, as well
as possibly all-new aircraft.
"We will
always have a huge need for medium lift helicopters like the Black Hawk," said
Rhett Flater, executive director of the American Helicopter Society. "On the
other hand, some of the experiences that the US Marine Corps and the army have
encountered in
Another
option for GE could be capturing a share of Rolls-Royce's grip on the
heavy-lift market.
The USMC is
investigating the GE38-1B as a replacement for the AE1107C that powers the
BellBoeing MV-22 Osprey, a medium-lift tiltrotor. USMC officials have expressed
concerns about the durability of the AE1107C after experiencing sand ingestion
in
"The
AE1107C compressor does not currently take advantage of protective coatings to
minimize sand and dust erosion," Rolls said in a statement. "However, we have outlined with the customer
an engine coating program to begin in-service evaluations in the near future."
Lockheed
Martin also may have to upgrade the payload capacity of the venerable C-130J
Hercules, as the size of the vehicles for the army's Future Combat System grows
from about 20t to about 27t. At that time, the GE38 may be viewed as an
attractive alternative to the Rolls AE2100.
Birtwell
declined to comment about specific opportunities for the GE38 beyond the
CH-53K, but clearly described GE's strong interest in pursuing those options.
"GE made an
investment in this program as well. It's not just government money," Birtwell
said. "We did it for a reason. We are highly aware of the various other
applications in this power class."
GE's
competitors are also well aware of this potential new market. Honeywell builds
the 5,000shp T55-GA-714 engine for newer-model Boeing CH-47s, and has
advertised a more powerful, next-generation version called the 55-L-71X.
Facing such
competitive pressure, GE is holding off on concepts for future applications to
focus on delivering the GE38-1B on time for Sikorsky's CH-53K programme.
"We do need
to focus on this one particular job because we want to get the engine right
first and then we can work on other things," Birtwell said.
Earlier
this month, GE released engineering drawings for engine parts to the supply
chain, he said. Passing that internal milestone means the company has finalized
design of the engine components, allowing fabrication of parts to begin for the
first engine to test.
The first rig
test is scheduled in July to analyze the combustor. That will be followed by a
second rig test in the first quarter of 2009 to check the lubrication system at
various engine attitudes in pitch and yaw.
The first
complete engine to test is scheduled to be installed on GE's test stand in the
first half of next year. GE is building a total of 20 engines to support 6,000
hours of flight testing on five prototype CH-53Ks.
The GE38-1B
emerged as an outgrowth of the GE27 "mature technology demonstrator engine" in
the 1980s and the T407 proposed for the subsequently cancelled Lockheed P-7
patrol aircraft. The GE38-1B is based on the same architecture, but boasts 20%
more power than the T407 driven by an updated core hot section and a redesigned
power turbine.
For the
CH-53K, GE was initially prepared to offer a growth version of the GE T64
engine that currently powers the CH-53E fleet.
However,
"as the requirement evolved the power requirement got to be such that it was
more than the T64 architecture could handle," Birtwell said.
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