General Electric's CF34-10 engine for the Embraer 190/195 and Chinese AVIC I ARJ21 regional jets made its first flight from Victorville, California, on 12 November aboard the company's Boeing 747-100 test bed. The flight coincided with the formal agreement between GE and the Chinese government over the supply of the side-mounted CF34-10A variant for the ARJ21. The initial engine under test is the underwing -10E version, which will be rated at 18,500lb (82.3kN) thrust for the Embraer 190 and is due to enter service with JetBlue in 2005. Flight testing is expected to last until the end of January and to include up to 23 flights. After the establishment of basic performance, the rest of the tests will be aimed at mapping stall characteristics, component stability, controls during high-speed transients and air-starts, nacelle cooling, high-altitude take-offs and high angle-of-attack manoeuvres to check inlet characteristics.
Source: Flight International
