Engine Manufacture Works To Bring The HF120 Engine To Market

By: Chris Batcheller

“We have no major announcement” said GE Honda Aero Engine’s Bill Dwyer as he kicked off the press conference. And, while there is no major announcement, the company is steadily working to certify the HF120 turbine engine. The company is moving from flying and testing demonstration engines to conforming production engines.

Bill Dwyer

GE Honda Aero Engines has completed and tested 11 builds of demonstration engines with 8 different cores in the last 2 years.  These engines were used to collect data and ensure that the design is sound. The HF120 engine has been designed to the rigorous GE Aviation design standards.

The demonstration engines gave the company the opportunity to tweak the design and fly fully instrumented engines to collect test data.  The company has also been competing component development, including an exhaust demonstrator to prove the design. At this point the company has frozen the design, released drawings and is entering the formal FAA testing phase.  

Bill Dwyer noted that the conforming engines will be tested to 15,000 cycles prior to any engines being delivered to customers. That’s according to GE Aviations ETOPS standards. Bill Dwyer noted that the HondaJet will be the first recipient of customer engines and the second will be Spectrum Aeronautical "Freedom" business jet.

The engine will initially be produced at GE Aviation’s Lynn, Massachusetts facility. Later the production will be transferred to GE Honda Aero Engine’s facility in Burlington, North Carolina.

 “The first engine to test will run by the end of the summer, and certification testing will continue into 2010” noted Bill Dwyer.

FMI: www.gehonda.com