AE 3007 Is Uncommonly Common

It powers business jets and spyplanes too, and even the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor. It's the Rolls-Royce-Allison AE core, used in the AE 3007 turbofan, the AE 2100 turboprop, and the AE 1107 turboshaft. There have been 1,782 delivered, including more than 1,000 AE 3007s), and there are 909 more on order, for a total of 2,691 AE engines.

"This is the first and only time in our history that one power core has been the source of turbofan, turboprop and turboshaft derivatives," says a Rolls-Royce spokesman. It has accumulated 4 million flight hours (with 2.9 million hours on the 3007) and, with 13 different applications, including popular Embraer and Cessna aircraft, the core will have logged nearly 6 million hours by year-end, Rolls predicts.

The AE 3007 turbofan powers the speedy Cessna Citation X, billed as the briskest in the business, and the new Embraer Legacy, a derivative of the Brazilian's ERJ 135, which also uses the AE core. It powers the Embraer 140 and 145, too.

The versatile engine core is also on the Embraer SIVAM military early warning aircraft, another derivative of the Brazilian's the regional jets.

As a turboprop-in its AE2100 configuration-the core powers the Saab 2000, the Indonesian N-250, and the Shinmaywa US 1A flying boat. It's on the latest version of the Hercules military transport, the C-130J, as well as the C-27J Spartan.

As the AE 1007 turboshaft the core drives the rotors and cross-coupling shafts of the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor.

In a completely different operating environment, the AE 3007 core has shown its adaptability in powering Northrop Grumman's developmental Global Hawk, an unmanned spy craft that recently completed a 30-plus hour continuous trip from California to South America and back, notching world records for distance and altitude. The engine has been adapted to run at altitudes up to 60,000 feet, and in the very cold temperatures associated with high altitude flight.

No fewer than three AE-powered aircraft have won the coveted Collier Trophy: the Citation X, the Osprey, and most recently the Global Hawk.

An AE3007 engine can be seen here at EBACE in Booth 7657.