GE takes to the skies with its 787 engine contender

GEnx powerplant reaches 43,000ft during first flight on modified 747 testbed

General Electric's GEnx engine became the first of the powerplants competing for the Boeing 787 to take to the air, when it flew on 22 February under the left wing of the company's flying testbed at Victorville, California.

During the three-hour flight GE says the GEnx-1B64 version for the initial 787-8 model "demonstrated aircraft systems and instrumentation functionality, climbed to more than 43,000ft [13,100m] and established engine performance baseline for flight testing". The company plans to conduct three flights a week over the next three months, and aims to achieve US Federal Aviation Administration Part 33 certification in September 2007.

The first shipset of "compliance" engines is scheduled to be complete and ready for delivery to Boeing the same month. Flight tests on the 787 are due to begin around October 2007, with two test aircraft.

GE's flying testbed was modified to manage the electrical load from the engine's two starter-generators and to provide power for electrical ground and air starts. The GEnx, like the competing Rolls-Royce Trent 1000, has been adapted for the non-bleed, more-electric requirements of the 787, and will produce more than 1mW compared with around 60kVA for engines of equivalent power.