For good reason, a model of GE Aerospace’s Catalyst turboprop is front and centre on the company’s booth at the EBACE show in Geneva.
Just months ago, GE’s Italian unit Avio Aero gained the long-overdue certification for the powerplant from the Federal Aviation Administration, in turn clearing an obstacle in the way of service entry for Textron Aviation’s Beechcraft Denali.
“This engine is really about new technologies,” says Avio Aero head of turboprop sales Paolo Salvetti. “The fuel burn is between 18 to 20% better, compared with the existing engine in the same class.”
Denali is the first aircraft equipped with the 1,200-1,400shp (895-1,044kW) Catalyst, though Airbus Defence & Space has also picked the engine to power the in-development EuroDrone unmanned air vehicle.
Catalyst competes squarely with Pratt & Whitney Canada’s stalwart PT6, a proven, reliable turboprop that has been around for more than 60 years – though updated significantly during that time.
The only way to take on such a competitor is to introduce an engine providing a “step-change improvement”, which is what GE has done with Catalyst, says Salvetti. “When you want to enter such a market, with such a strong player… it’s not sufficient to provide some improvements.”
GE equipped the engine with features already found on large turbofans.
Salvetti points to the turboprop’s 16:1 compression ratio, which he says exceeds that of any engine in its class. He also notes that the compressor contains two variable-geometry stator vanes, ensuring “the optimal flow in every single point of the flight envelope”.
On top of which, the Catalyst’s combustion chamber includes additive-manufactured parts and its high-pressure turbine contains single-crystal components.
Notably, GE gave the Catalyst a full-authority digital engine control (FADEC), which automates engine settings including power, fuel supply and propeller pitch, reducing pilot workload and allowing the engine to be controlled by a single lever in the cockpit. Older turboprops require multiple levers.
“Through this, we can really simplify the piloting experience and improve the safety, because the FADEC itself has a lot of protection,” says Salvetti.
Textron Aviation launched Denali development in 2015 and had hoped the aircraft would be in service years ago. But the aircraft’s certification has been held up by factors including the Catalyst’s own slow progress.
Salvetti attributes hold ups to the FAA in recent years mandating roughly 20 additional certification requirements, including those addressing “critical” factors such as bird strikes, ice crystal formation and super-cooled water droplets. The FAA’s stricter requirements came as the agency faced scrutiny over its certification of the Boeing 737 Max.
The Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on the aerospace industry and its supply chain also slowed Catalyst’s validation, Salvetti says.
GE Aerospace assembles Catalyst at its site in Prague. It sources components from a broad range of facilities, including those in Prague, Poland and the southern Italian cities of Pomigliano d’Arco and Brindisi.
GE Aerospace acquired the Avio Aero business, which is based in Turin in northern Italy, in 2013.
