On the Record with
LLOYD THOMPSON, PRESIDENT. THE ENGINE ALLIANCE -- A JOINT COMPANY OF GE AIRCRAFT ENGINES AND PRATT & WHITNEY

For the whole of its four year history the Alliance team has wondered if it was an exercise in fiction, creating paper engines for paper airplanes.
But the GE-Pratt & Whitney joint venture now has its work cut out following Airbus' decision to go ahead with the giant 555-passenger A3XX. Boeing's response has been to accelerate design activity on its stretch 747X, piling more work on the Alliance team. For the JV's sole product, the GP7000 turbofan, must be ready to power the two competing aircraft for an entry-into-service date of 2005.

"I'm ecstatic, just ecstatic," Alliance president Lloyd Thompson told Show News. "Airbus' formal Authority to Offer the A3XX is the vindication of a lot of hard work that's been done."

Thompson is here at Farnborough to meet potential buyers of both aircraft -- and to persuade them to select the GP7000 over the Rolls-Royce competitor. With four $9.5 million engines per aircraft, the stakes are high.

"It's going to become very, very hot just after Farnborough," Thompson said, "The customers have said they intend to look at engines and begin the selection process right away." None have yet chosen whose engine will power their new superjumbo, so there are tremendous bragging rights up for grabs as the first to be chosen.

The Alliance has been favored with good omens. While visiting Dubai, its executives received word that Emirates had thrown its support behind the A3XX; and while in Toulouse just a few weeks ago they learned that Airbus would go ahead with the A3XX. "Where the Alliance team goes, good things happen," joked Thompson, who declined to disclose its travel schedule after Farnborough.

Joking aside, GE and Pratt & Whitney top management have expressed total enthusiasm and support for the GP7000, making the joint venture run much more smoothly than might have been imagined.

Tests of the new engine's compressor have now been completed, with 226 hours running time, indicating a greater-than-expected efficiency at high power. "The results were just outstanding," said Thompson. The first complete engine will go to test in September 2002.

The GP 7000 powerplant for Airbus will feature a 110-inch fan with wide chord, hollow-titanium blades derived from the Pratt & Whitney PW4090 engine; a GE90-type core scaled 75% for flow but to 86% of the physical size of the big engine's innards; a scaled GE90 high pressure turbine; and a PW4168-derived low pressure turbine. It will be certified initially at 75,000 lbs thrust but is to enter service at around 68,000 lbs. The Alliance has agreed with Airbus to build in growth potential to 80,000 lbs for future, heavier aircraft.

Boeing's engine will feature a 101-inch fan, driven by the same core. It is a little lighter than the Airbus engine, with a three-stage low pressure compressor and a four stage low pressure turbine, one fewer in each than for the A3XX.

All indications are that the engine will meet its performance targets. Stiff reviews have convinced Airbus and Alliance that the proposed range for the A3XX of 7,650 nmi will be met or exceeded. Boeing is also very satisfied with its extensive technical audits, Thompson said.

He jokingly described the anticipated market for the engine as "huge!"-at least enough to support a viable business plan. Earlier, Alliance had disclosed that it "conservatively" forecast a market for 800 aircraft by about 2030.

Thompson said the latest technology from both companies is being evaluated to ensure the GP7000 is both state-of-the-art yet technologically mature when it enters service. "Airlines with 555 passengers don't want any delays, so we are applying all our ETOPS processes and standards to this engine, even though it does not need ETOPS approval." He was referring to the tough reliability standards imposed by the FAA in allowing twin-engined aircraft to fly over water up to 180 minutes from their nearest alternate airport.

As pat of this quality assurance, the Alliance has taken on responsibility for Engine Build Up-installing all the accessories before build up. "It's like your old Jaguar," explained Thompson. "The motor was great but there was always some bracket or electrical component that let you down. We are imparting to the accessories the same design rigor we apply to our turbomachinery," he said.

By John Morris