The US navy has set a new military record for engine 'time on wing' with a CFM56-2A engine that has logged more than 15,000 flight hours without a single shop visit. The new record was set by an engine powering an E-6 aircraft in service with the Navy's Take Charge and Move Out (TACAMO) unit based at Tinker Air Force base in Oklahoma City. Additionally, seven more units in this fleet have reached 14,000 hours without a shop visit, and a total of 45 engines have surpassed the 10,000-hour milestone, again without a single removal.
The Navy has referred to the CFM56 engine, the only engine in US military service to achieve more than 10,000 hours without a shop visit, as "arguably the most reliable engine in the history of aviation". The 24,000-pound-thrust CFM56-2A entered service in 1990 on Boeing E-6 aircraft, a development of the Boeing 707 jet airliner, and the fleet has logged approximately 803,000 hours and 264,000 cycles to date. The fleet has had only one engine removal since July 1996, and no in-flight shutdowns.
Source: Flight Daily News
