Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES
BOMBARDIER HAS selected a new variant of the General Electric CF34 turbofan to power the yet-to-be-launched CRJX, a stretched version of the 50-seat Canadair Regional Jet.
The choice of the CF34-8C was revealed to Canadair's CRJX airline advisory group at a meeting in Berlin, Germany, on 3 February.
GE beat competition from Allison Engines, with the AE 3012, a planned derivative of the AE 3007 selected for the Embraer EMB-145 regional airliner.
The CF34-8C will be rated at 60kN (13,000lb) thrust, compared to 40kN for the CF34-3A1 version powering almost 50 Canadair RJs in service. The engine will have a larger fan, with some design influence from the F414-400 military turbofan. It will also incorporate a full-authority digital engine-control unit, a higher-flow low-pressure (LP) compressor and new LP turbine.
Despite naming an engine for the proposed 64- to 70-seat regional jet, Bombardier is still thought likely to launch the de Havilland Dash 8-400 turboprop first. The company says that the engine choice was required sooner for the CRJX because of the extended development time needed for the power plant.
The Dash 8-400 is likely to be launched at the Paris air show in June and will almost certainly be powered by the Allison Engines AE 2100 turboprop, as GE put development of the competing GL38 programme on hold after AlliedSignal took over Textron Lycoming.
Source: Flight International
