Rivals' Team Tackles the Biggest Aircraft

"Some feared when we started that this might be a creeping merger. I can assure you it certainly isn't. Legally, the goals of the Engine Alliance between GE Aircraft Engines and Pratt & Whitney are pretty specific."

So says Bruce Hughes, president of the joint venture between two deadly rival engine manufacturers to develop a new 67,000- to 80,000-pound-thrust turbofan for the giant 555-passenger Airbus A3XX and Boeing 747 growth airliners.

Reeling from their experience in developing large engines for Boeing's 777, on which they'll see no financial return for many years, the two decided to pool their resources and share the $1billion cost of creating a new engine for the biggest Boeing and Airbus aircraft. The new GP7200 will fill a niche in each product line. "It doesn't duplicate any of the products at GE or Pratt," Hughes told Show News.

Design work on the GP7200 is well advanced, and Hughes expects a formal engine launch in January 2000 if Airbus finalizes its A3XX specifications this December. The engine's core will begin testing in October 1999 regardless of an Airbus decision; that timetable then calls for the first engine test in June 2001 and certification before flight test in November 2002. "It's all on track," said Hughes.

The first engine will be developed for Airbus, as the definition of the A3XX is further advanced than Boeing's concept for the growth 747. "Three quarters of our time is being spent at Airbus on installation work and performance improvement," Hughes explained.
Airbus' GP7200 features: 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-pounds thrust but enter service around 68,000 pounds. The Alliance has agreed with Airbus to build in growth potential to 80,000 pounds for future, heavier aircraft.

Boeing's engine will likely feature a 100-inch fan, driven by the same core. Engineers are currently focusing on weight reduction and optimizing the low pressure turbine and fan for maximum efficiency at cruise for the A3XX. New ways to reduce weight are being explored, such as frangible bearing housings that will break away in the event of a fan blade failure, thus reducing the loads passed through the structure and allowing a lighter mounting pylon.

"We're working weight, along with engine performance, to have the most competitive engine," said Hughes, referring to competition from Rolls-Royce with its Trent 900 to power the A3XX.

He typified the design of the GP7200 as "777-derivative technology" rather than a new design. "We're not trying to design a whole new engine like the GE90. That was a technical tour de force," Hughes said.

While no one, including the aircraft manufacturers, is sure of the sales potential for the $200-million each A3XX or growth 747, Hughes is certain this is a market neither GE nor Pratt can afford to miss. "Our business plan is predicated on a lower forecast than some, but we still see 800 aircraft by about 2025," he said. At four engines per aircraft, the returns would be acceptable.