LE BOURGET - Development continues on schedule for GE Aircraft Engines' T700/CT7 turboshaft growth engines, designed to power new, medium-size helicopters and derivatives of existing fixed-wing aircraft.
The engines are being co-developed by Alfa Romeo Avio, Fiat Avio, and GE Aircraft Engines. Hamilton Standard is supplying the engine's Full Authority Digital Electronic Control (FADEC) system. Rated in the 2,500-shaft-horsepower (shp) class, the engines will be in production by the end of this decade.
Louis A. Bevilacqua, general manager of the Turboshaft/Turboprop Project Department of GE Aircraft Engines, said, "These new growth versions of our T700/CT7 powerplants incorporate advanced, but proven, technologies. Through this low-risk, low-cost derivative growth development program, we are achieving significant shaft horsepower gains and improved specific fuel consumption while continuing the reliability and durability features that have made T700/CT7 engines successful worldwide."
Certification of the growth CT7s by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is targeted for 1999. Testing of the first growth derivative is under way at Alfa Romeo Avio in Italy, where the engine has completed more than 500 hours of testing, during which it has demonstrated more than 2,700 shp.
The T700 growth engine, the T700/T6E, will power NH Industries' NH90 helicopter. The first T700/T6E flight test engines will be shipped from Alfa Romeo this summer, with flight testing scheduled to begin later this year. The civil version of this engine, the CT7-8, will power the Sikorsky S-92 international utility helicopter. Flight testing of the CT7-8 is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of 1998.
In addition to the NH90, the S-92, and other advanced new aircraft, potential applications for the growth engines include derivatives of the EH101, Black Hawk and Apache helicopters. A turboprop version of the growth engine will also be available for derivative Saab 340, CASA/IPTN CN235, and Let L610G aircraft.
Current T700/CT7 turboshaft and turboprop models power 24 civil and military helicopters, regional airliners, military transports, and multipurpose aircraft. To date, more than 10,000 engines have been delivered, and the T700/CT7 engine family has accumulated nearly 25 million flight hours of highly reliable operation in turboshaft and turboprop applications, often in extreme environments.