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thi S week P 8G
E Aviation has begun anoth-
er round of module-level
evaluations on the GE9X before
bringing the initial full-scale
engine to test in the first half of
2016.
A demonstration core for the
powerplant, selected to equip
the Boeing 777X family, has
performed trials in GE Aviation’s
altitude simulation chamber in
Evandale, Ohio.
The altitude tests pushed the
core’s major sections – an
11-stage high pressure compres-
sor, a third-generation, twin-
annular pre-mixing swirler, and
a two-stage high-pressure
turbine – beyond design speed
limits and above a compressor
pressure ratio of 27:1.
“This is a key step in the
GE9X technology maturation
programme,” says Bill
Millhaem, general manager of
the GE90/GE9X engine pro-
grammes for GE Aviation.
The next phase of trials on the
demonstrator core will focus on
optimising the aerodynamic
shaping of the compressor
blades and on monitoring the
workings of the combustor, says
the company.
Cincinnati-based GE Aviation
was to spend $1 billion in 2015
to keep the GE9X development
programme on track to enter
service on the 777-9 in 2020.
The 777X will utilise GE’s
most advanced engine to date.
In addition to the new
compressor and combustor, the
high-pressure turbine will
feature heat-resistant ceramic
matrix composites in the Stage 1
and 2 nozzles and Stage 1
shrouds, as well as advanced
cooling technology in the Stage 1
blades and a 132in (335cm)-
diameter fan of 16 blades
composed of a new, hybrid
composite structure. Flight tests
of the GE9X are scheduled to
start on a Boeing 747 flying test-
bed in 2017. ■propulsion
stephen trImble
washington DcgE9X engine
core powers
into evaluation
h
onda Aircraft has received
US Federal Aviation
Administration approval for its
HondaJet HA-420 light business
aircraft, allowing the manufac-
turer to begin making deliveries
within days.
Greensboro, North Carolina-
based Honda Aircraft has been
pursuing certification of the light
jet for more than 12 years, with
the original HA-420 prototype
completing its first flight in 2003.
Testing prompted Honda to re-
design and enlarge the engine. A
partnership with GE Aviation –
GE Honda Aero Engines – pro-
duced the HF120 turbofan.
“Achieving FAA type certifica-
tion for the HondaJet is a monu-
mental milestone for Honda,”
airteamimagesthe hA-420 light business jet made its first test flight in 2003says Honda Aircraft chief execu-
tive Michimasa Fujino. He de-
scribes the development and test-
ing of the clean-sheet aircraft as
“an unprecedented challenge”
for the company.
During the test campaign, theHA-420 accumulated more than
3,000 flight hours.
Production is ramping up at its
Greensboro site, with 25 aircraft
on the final assembly line. Honda
has amassed around 100 orders
for the $4.5 million twinjet. ■programme
12-year wait for certification over as
Faa clears hondaJet for deliveries
manufacturing stephen trImble sEattlE
Boeing ponders 737 output
Reconfigured production line gives airframer options, but has no plans to match a320 rate
b
oeing continues to study the
potential for increasing 737
output beyond its plan for 52 per
month from 2018, but it stresses
that there are currently no plans
to go above that limit.
Thanks to extensive reconfigu-
ration of its Renton, Washington
production facility – including the
new “central line” on which the
initial 737 Max flight-test aircraft
was built – the airframer now has
one-third more capacity at the
site. This gives Boeing more flexi-
bility to respond to Airbus’s deci-
sion to increase A320 output to 60
aircraft per month before 2020.
So far, Boeing officials have not
given any indication they intend
to match that rise, but executives
point to “upward pressure” on
737 demand and negotiations are
ongoing with the supply chain.
“We are studying all the time,”
says Keith Leverkuhn, Boeing
vice-president and general man-
ager of the 737 programme. “Air-
bus made their announcement.
We like where we’re at. [Boeing] is
challenging the supply chain all
the time going, ‘What if? How
high can you go?’”
In a different way, “going high-
er” was exactly how Boeing found
extra capacity in Renton’s densely
packed facility. Whereas Airbus
spreads final assembly across four
production lines in Europe, China
and the USA, Boeing concentrates
737 final assembly under one roof
at the 4-81 and 4-82 hangar bays.
Each hangar has contained a
single assembly line with a feeder
line running alongside. To estab-lish a third assembly line, Boeing
consolidated both feeder lines
into a single, three-level vertical
structure called the systems inte-
gration tool inside the 4-82 hang-
ar. On the top two floors of the fa-
cility, workers install wiring and
electronic systems inside com-
pleted fuselages nestled into nine
available positions.
The lowest floor holds the
build-up stations for major
sections, such as the stabilisers
and nacelles. ■
see news Focus p 10Jeremy Dwyer-lindgrenre-engined model will power increased demand