General Electric has completed the first round of flight tests on the Boeing 787's GEnx engine. Meanwhile Rolls-Royce says that the first flight of the Trent 1000 on board a 747 flying testbed is imminent.
The GEnx completed 34 flights and 187 flight hours aboard GE's Boeing 747 testbed, verifying the engine's design and electrical requirements for the 787, the company says. Flight tests showed the engine could keep operating while producing the 787's maximum power requirements and confirmed its ability to restart in flight at "various conditions within the 787 flight envelope".
A second round of flight tests is expected later in the year. GE has sold around 870 GEnx engines to 30 customers to date.
Meanwhile, preparations are almost finished to fly the Trent 1000 aboard the L-3 Communications converted 747 flying testbed, and the first flight is "imminent", says R-R. The company had been aiming to fly the engine last month, but says that it was able to complete the majority of engine altitude testing at the Arnold Engineering Development Center in Tennessee, which took some of the pressure off the need to start flight testing.
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Source: Flight International
