GE Aviation’s Business & General Aviation Turboprops team is making strides in its efforts to certify its new H80 turboprop engine and growing its services and customer support network, officials reported at this summer’s AirVenture.
“The Business & General Aviation Turboprop team has made great progress in the first half of this year,” said Paul Theofan, president and managing executive of GE Aviation’s Business & General Aviation Turboprops. “The new H80 turboprop engine has exceeded 800 shaft horsepower in testing and the specific fuel consumption is better than we anticipated. We have expanded the service and customer support network in North America and are looking to do the same in South America.”
The H80 engine began certification testing in March at the Business & General Aviation Turboprops facility near Prague in the Czech Republic. Five development engines will take part in certification testing. The H80 engine has completed component and accessory functional tests, including testing of the propeller gearbox and the new single-acting prop governor system. The engine hot section validation testing has completed 6,500 cycles. The 150-hour endurance test will happen in September. EASA engine certification is anticipated later this year, along with first flight on the Thrush 510 aircraft.
The H80 turboprop engine will power business and general aviation, utility and agriculture aircraft and will be the first of the new H80 engine family. The H80 engine combines the design of the M601 engine with GE’s 3-D aerodynamic design techniques and advanced materials to create a more powerful, fuel-efficient, durable engine compared with the M601 engine, with no recurrent fuel nozzle inspections and no hot section inspection, company officials note. The H80 engine will also feature an extended service life of 3,600 flight-hours or 6,600 cycles between overhauls, significantly enhanced hot-day takeoff performance and high-altitude cruise speeds. The H80 will provide the option of a single- or dual-acting governor, allowing customers flexibility in propeller selection.
The Business & General Aviation Turboprops team also signed agreements to expand its customer service and support offerings. Premier Turbines is the Designated Repair Center in North and South America for M601 and H80 turboprop engines and offers heavy repair services, exchange engines and rentals, line replacement unit (LRU) rotable pools and field service support to current M601 and future H80 customers. Smyrna Air Center near Nashville, Tennessee, Cascade Aircraft Conversions in Washington State, and Winnipeg River Aircraft in Manitoba, Canada, are Authorized Service Centers for M601 and H80 engine families and offer line maintenance, removals and re-installations of engines and LRUs and engine spares.
In March, GE Aviation held its first M601E training courses at its Customer Technical Education Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Air Transport Authority (ATA) level III course includes classroom and hands-on training for line maintenance mechanics and aircraft operators.
For more information: GE.com/aviation.
