New CF34 Growth Engine Expands GE Market To 70-Passenger Airliners

June 15, 1997 -- LE BOURGET - GE Aircraft Engines' new CF34-8C1 turbofan engine positions GE to play a major role in the next phase of regional airline evolution.

Earlier models of the CF34, rated in the 9,000 pound thrust class, entered service in 1992 on the 50-passenger Canadair Regional Jet and have since earned a reputation for exceptional reliability. CF34 performance has helped airlines achieve dramatic business growth and profitability and has contributed significantly to the success of the Canadair Regional Jet.

The 14,000-pound-thrust-class (62 kN) CF34-8C1 engine, currently in development for the new Canadair Regional Jet Series 700, represents GE's most recent major regional airline engine program and increases GE's served markets to include 70-passenger aircraft.

"We've been very fortunate at GE to have had the experience and resources to be able to offer the right engine at the right time during the evolution of the regional airline business since deregulation," said Lloyd Thompson, general manager of the Small Commercial Turbofan Department of GE Aircraft Engines. "At each turning point in the business, we've been able to meet our airline customers' performance needs."

Since the formal launch of the CF34-8C1 development test program in April of last year, component design and performance verification have been progressing steadily, with many test results exceeding expectations.

By the close of 1996, most of the engine's major components had been on test and had accumulated approximately 270 development test hours. Testing covered the engine's exhaust nozzle system, fan tolerance to bird strikes, fan containment, compressor aerodynamic and mechanical evaluation, preliminary combustor performance, and low pressure turbine aero testing, which exceeded design point efficiency objectives.

The second phase of -8C1 fan testing, which was completed in April of this year at European Gas Turbine's facility in Whetstone, England, demonstrated the capability and effectiveness of the engine's Kevlar containment ring. The results of combustor tests, also conducted in April, exceeded targets for pattern factor and temperature profile and verified the combustor's long-life characteristics.

"Our recent fan and combustor testing continues to give us a high degree of confidence in the progress of the -8C1 program," said Thompson. "We're accumulating hardware at a good rate, and we're on schedule to meet our core engine and first full engine tests scheduled for late this year."

Certification of the CF34-8C1 by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is targeted for the fourth quarter of 1999, and the engine is scheduled to join GE's fleet of regional airline powerplants in the year 2000.