The General Electric GE90 turbofan is a household name (well,
in aviation-minded households, anyway) so it comes as a surprise
to realize that this power plant has never appeared on a production
aircraft at a major airshow until now. Launched in parallel with
the Boeing 777 in 1989, the GE90 first flew on the sixth aircraft
of that type (the first for British Airways) on February 2, 1995
and has subsequently found homes beneath the wings of Triple-Sevens
of Air France, All Nippon, China Southern, Continental, EVA Airways,
Garuda, Japan Airlines, Kuwait Airways, Lauda Air, Mid-East Jet
and Saudia. None of those has been borrowed by Boeing for a pre-delivery
airshow appearance (P&W has done the past honors), but now
that GE has an exclusive agreement with Boeing for installation
aboard the Dash 300ER-one of which is you can scarcely miss in
the static park-we may see more of the breed at future events.
