US ENGINE manufacturers General Electric and Pratt & Whitney have agreed many of the details of their 50/50 joint-venture agreement to produce powerplants for the Boeing new-generation 747-500/600X and Airbus Industrie A3XX.
The new company, to be known as the GE-P&W Engine Alliance, is to locate final assembly of its GP7000 engine series at P&W's East Hartford, Connecticut, plant .
The head of the company is Larry Scott, previously GE's CF6 programme manager. Under the original terms of the joint venture, it was agreed that the first president would be recruited from whichever manufacturer was not selected to handle final assembly of the engine. Scott is to serve a three- or four-year term of office, before being replaced by a P&W manager in a pre-arranged rotation.
The GP7000 series covers a 334-378kN (75,000-85,000lb)- thrust range. The launch engine will be the GP7176 - a designation which represents the 7000 series; the first customer (Boeing) and a thrust of 338kN.
As expected, the alliance has opted for a 2.8m fan diameter. This is an increase on the original specification of 2.75m, and now matches the Trent 900 engine being developed by rival UK manufacturer Rolls-Royce.
GE will design and manufacture the "hot" section, or high-pressure (HP) compressor, combuster and HP turbine of the GP7000; while P&W will supply the low-pressure section, using titanium hollow-blade technology.
The development team is already in position and is working to a 36-month development cycle. Final configuration of the first engine is expected to be in place by the end of 1996, with certification due at the end of 1999. The in-service date is late 2000.
It is understood that East Hartford was chosen over GE's manufacturing and test site at Durham, North Carolina, because there is adequate testing capacity at the P&W Connecticut plant.
Source: Flight International
