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GE Honda Aero Engines Readies for Significant Milestones on HF120 Engine Certification Testing

Written by thomas · Filed Under Aeronautics News 

May 12, 2009

thomas

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND. – May 12, 2009 – The second half of 2009 will be
filled with significant certification testing milestones for the GE
Honda Aero Engines’ HF120 engine.

“The majority of the hardware for the first HF120 development engine has
arrived, and engine assembly will begin by June at GE’s Lynn,
Massachusetts, facility,” said Bill Dwyer, president of GE Honda Aero
Engines. “The first engine to test will occur by mid-summer, and testing
will continue into 2010.”

A total of 13 HF120 development engines will take part in the
certification testing at seven locations in the U.S., Canada and Japan.
Tests will include altitude fan blade out, crosswind, stress and
endurance testing.

GE Honda also plans to test the engine on a flying testbed before flying
on the customer certification aircraft. By entry into service, the HF120
is expected to have accumulated more than 15,000 cycles of ground and
flight testing.

The HF120 engine has already experienced one of the most extensive
engine test programs prior to the official start of FAA certification
testing. To date, GE Honda Aero Engines has built and tested 10 HF120
engine cores and 11 full engine demonstrators. The engine has produced
more than 2,100 pounds of thrust, exceeded its ambitious fuel efficiency
target and proven its durability.

HF120 engine production will initially begin in Lynn and transition to
Honda Aero Inc.’s new Burlington, North Carolina engine production
facility, which will be completed next month.

The GE Honda HF120 engine was launched in 2006 and selected to power
Honda Aircraft’s advanced light jet, the HondaJet, and the Spectrum
Aeronautical “Freedom” business jet.

Rated at 2,095 pounds of thrust, the HF120 engine succeeds Honda’s
original HF118 prototype engine, which has accumulated more than 4,000
hours of testing on the ground and in-flight. GE and Honda redesigned
the engine for higher thrust and new standards of performance in fuel
efficiency, durability, and low noise and emissions.

The HF120 technologies include:
*    A wide chord, compound-swept front fan and two-stage booster
along with composite outlet guide vanes.
*    A high-temperature, titanium impellor in the compressor for
maximum engine pressure ratio and stall-free performance.
*    A compact reverse-flow configuration combustor and single-stage
air-blast fuel nozzles.
*    Advanced materials in the turbine as well as a two-stage
low-pressure (LP) turbine and a counter-rotating high-pressure and LP
spool shaft system.

A key cost-of-ownership advantage of the HF120 will be the ability to
operate at a best-in-class 5,000 hours between major overhauls. The
advanced airfoil materials and coatings that GE and Honda are maturing
for the engine’s high-pressure turbine section enable this capability.

In 2004, GE and Honda formed its 50/50 joint company, based in
Cincinnati, Ohio, near the GE Aviation headquarters. The joint company
integrates the resources of GE and Honda Aero, Inc., a Honda subsidiary
established to manage its aviation engine business.

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