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Aviation History
2001
2001 - 3838.PDF
• FLS Aerospace has con cluded a 10-year contract worth $400 million with EasyJet to pro vide total maintenance support for the airline's fleet of Boeing 737-700s. • GE Engine Services has signed a 16-year, $1 billion-plus maintenance cost-per-flight-hour agreement with SkyWest Airlines to main tain CF34 engines powering 140 Bombardier CRJ100/200s in service or on firm order. The deal includes conversion of 20 CF34- 3A1sto-3B1 configuration, increasing thrust and reducing fuel-burn, in addition to 16 under a previous deal. • Saab Aviocomp has signed a three year per-flight-hour agreement with KLM CityHopper and KLMuk covering component services for 22 Fokker 50s. • Burlington, Ontario-based Comtek has been appointed an authorised service centre for composite and sheet-metal structures on Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia and ERJ- 135/140/145 regional aircraft. • Pratt & Whitney is to build a large-fan jet engine test cell for MTU Maintenance Zhuhai, China, under a $13 million con tract. Construction is to be completed in early 2003, and the cell will be used initially for CFM56 and V2500 mainte nance. • Sabena Technics has been contracted by Islandsflug Icebird Airlines to provide its Full Support service for its newly acquired Airbus A310-300F. Sabena Technics will provide airframe mainte nance and full component support services, and will base personnel at the airline's operat ing bases. • Tracer is to manage Midwest Express Airlines' aftermarket inventory of McDonnell Douglas DC-9 and Boeing MD-80 spares, with TradeAir handling internet- based marketing of the parts, which will be relocated to Tracer's Millwaukee, USA, ware house. • Lisbon, Portugal- based OGMA has become an authorised Rolls-Royce (R-R) maintenance centre for the AE2100D3 engine. The com pany has an engine test cell which was recently correlated by R-R, allowing it to perform engine testing following repair. AIR TRANSPORT ENGINE TESTING GUY NORRIS / CINCINNATI GE90-115 paves way for 'GEN X' Sonic Cruiser development General Electric is confident Boeing will favour an all-new engine over a derivative General Electric has revealed details of a potential GEN X study engine for Boeing's Sonic Cruiser concept based on a scaled compressor of the GE90-115B now in initial tests. Admitting it is "very early days", GE90 Advanced Programme gen eral manager Mike Benzakein says it is already assumed the GEN X will be far more integrated with the airframe than previous study engines. "On GEN X we are look ing at a thrust requirement of around 90,0001b [400kN] assuming a Mach 0.98 cruise speed and a capacity of 250 passengers. This means we're looking at around an 80% scale of the GE90 core in terms of flow scale." GE "always expected" Boeing to favour an all- new engine for the Sonic Cruiser over simpler derivatives of 777 engines like the baseline GE90, and GEN X satisfies this requirement, he adds. GE currently expects to base its GEN X concept study on upcom ing tests of an evolved nine-stage high-pressure compressor (HPC) design. Based on the original 23:1 pressure ratio HPC core design developed from the joint GE/ NASA energy efficient engine study, the GEN X derivative could be the eighth test core in the current series. Tests of the fourth variant focused on three-dimensional (3D) aerodynamic improvements, while the fifth core was used to test a de- staged nine-stage configuration. The sixth core, now being tested as part of GE90-115B development, is further refining this configuration. Core seven, due to run late next year, will form the basis for a 72% scaled version for the GP7200 being developed with Pratt & Whitney for the Airbus A380. The 80% scale version could therefore be tested as core eight as early as the end of 2003, believes Benzakein, who adds that allied HP turbine (HPT) and combustor tech nology development programmes are also planned to keep pace with environmental and performance demands. Advanced HPT tests are due to begin next year while a dual dome TAPS (twin augmented pre- swirl) combustor is under develop ment for initial rig tests starting early 2002. The company believes an advanced TAPS-type combustor, based on technology first tested in the TECH56 programme, could help meet the stiff environmental requirements expected after 2006. GE is also focused on the un usual design limits imposed by Boeing on the physical size of the fan and the area of the exhaust. The fan diameter is believed to be limited to around 2.8m (llOin) diameter, with a fan pressure ratio of approximately 8:1. Although this is higher than current GE large engines, including the GE90-115B, it is being explored in a trade-off between bypass flow and noise. Traditionally, GE has maintained a relatively low fan pressure ratio to help reduce fan noise, but the long duct inlet of the Sonic Cruiser is expected to compensate for this. Further complicating the inlet design consideration is the require ment for additional air flow during take-off and landing. The company is studying auxiliary inlet systems such as blow-in doors and panels. "It's a pretty different fan system, but it will be the core that pushes us forward," adds Benzakein. Rill GE90 tests get under way Tests of the first full General Electric (GE) GE90-115B engine (below) are progressing rapidly at Peebles, Ohio, where around 40 test hours have been completed. The engine, which reached a record thrust level of 120,3161b (535kN) within 24h of its first run on 18 November, will be joined by a second engine in December. Flight tests on GE's Boeing 747 flying testbed are set to begin in February, with around 250h of flight tests planned. US certifica tion of the engine to FAR Part 33 is planned for the third quarter of 2002, with first flight on the 777-300ER due in January 2003. ^BBje" i pi 14 4-10 DECEMBER 2001 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.fliqhtinternational.com
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