Gulfstream has not requested the same change to the BR710s powering its rival Gulfstream V, although it admits that the engine and its nacelle are overweight. The system to be deleted is designed to prevent a turbine overspeed in the event of a shaft failure. Bombardier says that the system will be eliminated from the BR710 by late 1996, and replaced by shaft shear-testing. BMW R-R declines to comment.
Bombardier officials acknowledge that deletion of the overspeed system will not solve the powerplant weight problem completely, but say that other weight-reduction efforts are under way.
Flight-test engines for the first Global Express, due to be flown in September, have been installed on the aircraft. Three BR710-powered GVs are now flying, and a fourth aircraft is scheduled to be flown in early August. Problems already cured include that of a combustor rumble on early GV flights.
Source: Flight International
