New Large Regionals Bode Very Well For Various CF34 Turbofans from GE

Small engines are big business at GE Aircraft Engines, which now dominates the market for regional jets up to 100 passengers.

The CF34-3 turbofan has won more than 1,700 firm and 1,500 option orders since being selected ten years ago to power the 50-passenger Canadair CRJ Regional Jet.

And the new models have snared 1,000 firm and 1,400 option orders for engines that have yet to be certified for aircraft that have not yet flown (with the exception of the Bombardier CRJ 900).

The CF34 backlog now total six to seven billion dollars.

"I looked at all this and said 'Holy Smoke!'" says Frank Klaus, general manager for small commercial engines at GE Aircraft Engines. "It is just incredible."

So is the task before him. "I really am humbled and challenged by all the executing we have to do," he told Show News. "There is an awful lot going on at once."

It is challenging enough to run a flight test program to a tight schedule, but to run three at once, for three manufacturers on three continents, would be daunting even for an over-achiever.

The stakes are high, too. Any delays in a test program could ripple through all three, resulting in not just one but three very unhappy customers who are all in head-to-head competition in a ruthless market. And to make it even more demanding, GE is supplying not just the engines, but the complete propulsion systems. Certification of the growth CF34 is planned beginning in the second quarter of 2002.

"We will have as many as six development engines testing at the same time," Klaus points out. "This really is a very aggressive program."

Various CF34 models have been chosen to power the 70-passenger Embraer ERJ 170 and Fairchild Dornier 728JET (they already power the Bombardier CRJ700), and the 90-passenger-class ERJ 190, 928JET and the Bombardier CRJ900.

The specific models are:

• C1. This 13,800-pounds-thrust engine entered revenue service in February of this year, powering the 70-passenger Bombardier CRJ700 of launch customer Brit Air of France
• 8 Growth series. The CF34-8C5 will power the Bombardier CRJ900; the CF34-8D the Fairchild Dornier 728JET; and the CF34-8E the Embraer ERJ 170. These engines share common turbomachinery, and all three produce a maximum takeoff thrust of 14,500 pounds. The ­8 Growth engines will be introduced into service over the next two years: the ­8E in 2002 with launch customer Crossair; the ­8D in 2003 with launch customer Lufthansa CityLine; and the ­8C5 in 2003 with U.S. airline launch customer Mesa Airlines.
• 10 engines. These are now in detail design, and will be rated at 18,500-pounds-thrust. The CF34­10 engines include: the 10D for the Fairchild-Dornier 928JET, and the ­10E for the Embraer ERJ 190. The first complete engine will be ready for test within a year, with certification targeted for March 2003.

"I don't have enough black hair left to turn gray to develop any more engines for a while, " Klaus jokes. "So I think it's execution, delivery, meet your customers requirements, upgrade the current fleet and keep the reputation as good as it is today ­- that's a significant set of perils all by itself without finding any new applications."

By John Morris