Engines

By the time you read this, my Debonair should have a freshly overhauled engine holding down its nose. The story of how all that came to be is best told with a few adult beverages, but the bottom line is I will soon have a new hole in my wallet and a zero-since-major-overhaul IO-520. This […]

“JAL has decided to accelerate the retirement of all P&W-equipped Boeing 777s by March 2021, which [was] originally planned by March 2022,” read a statement by the airline released on its website Monday. JAL promptly grounded its 13 PW4000-series-powered 777s after United Airlines Flight 328 experienced a dramatic engine failure four minutes into a trip […]

Rolls-Royce announced on Monday that it has officially started building its UltraFan demonstrator engine at the company’s dedicated DemoWorks facility in Derby, U.K. According to Rolls-Royce, the completed UltraFan will be the largest aeronautical engine ever built with a fan diameter of 140 inches. The company says the UltraFan will deliver a 25 percent improvement […]

The 50,000th PT6 turboprop engine has rolled off of the Pratt & Whitney production line, according to an announcement from the company during NBAA’s Virtual Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (VBACE) on Wednesday. Pratt & Whitney reports that there are more than 25,000 PT6-family engines in operation at present with over 410 million flight hours […]

Hill Helicopters has introduced a new turbine engine design intended for use with its HX50 helicopter, which is also under development. According to the company, the GT50 engine will feature Hill’s FADEC system, a direct-drive starter-generator, redundant electrical engine ancillaries and a modular design. Weighing in at 200 pounds, it is expected to provide a […]

Continental Aerospace Technologies has announced that its CD-170 engine has been granted type certification by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The four-cylinder, liquid-cooled CD-170 is the latest edition to the company’s CD-100 engine series, which has collectively logged over 7.1 million flight hours worldwide since its introduction. The CD-170 is capable of operating […]

Wisconsin-based aviation engine developer Engineered Propulsion Systems (EPS) has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. According to a petition submitted to the Western District of Wisconsin bankruptcy court on July 29, “there are currently no investors willing to continue to support the ongoing operations of the Company outside of a restructuring process” and it is “at […]

Rolls-Royce has delivered the 8,000th engine assembled at its manufacturing facility in Dahlewitz, Germany. The BR725 engine is headed to Savannah, Georgia-based Gulfstream Aerospace to power a Gulfstream G650ER business jet. Rolls-Royce began production at the site, which is Rolls-Royce’s Centre of Excellence for business aviation engines, in June 1995. “We are very proud of […]

It rolls downhill and engine maker Rolls-Royce has announced it plans to lay off 8,000 of its 52,000 workers worldwide, mostly from its commercial airline division, as the future of air travel starts to come into focus. Its biggest customers, Boeing and Airbus, have cut production by a total of about 30 percent and with […]

Rolls-Royce has started manufacturing fan blades for its UltraFan demonstrator engine in Bristol, U.K., the company announced on Tuesday. According to Rolls-Royce, the composite blades are the largest in the world with a diameter of 140 inches. The company says the UltraFan engine will offer a 25 percent reduction in fuel and emissions along with […]