Powerplants

In 1953 Rolls-Royce entered the civil aviation market with the Dart in the Vickers Viscount. It was to become the cornerstone of the universal acceptance of the gas turbine by the airline industry. The Avon-powered Comet became the first turbojet to enter transatlantic service and in 1960, the Conway engine in the Boeing 707 became the first turbofan to enter airline service.
The other major manufacturers in Britain between the wars were Armstrong Siddeley, Blackburn, Bristol, de Havilland and Napier. The leader among these was Bristol which, in 1959, merged with the motor car and aero-engine maker Armstrong Siddeley. Three other smaller engine companies were absorbed into Bristol Siddeley and Rolls-Royce in 1961. Finally, the capability of the British aero-engine industry was consolidated when Rolls-Royce and Bristol Siddeley merged in 1966.
With the emergence of the widebody airliners in the late 1960s, Rolls-Royce launched the RB211 for the Lockheed L-1011 Tri-Star.
Early problems with the RB211 led to the company being taken into state ownership, and the flotation of the motor car business in 1973 as a separate entity. The three-shaft turbofan concept of the RB211 has now established itself at the heart of the Rolls-Royce world-class family of engines.
 

www.rollsroyce.com timeline

With titanium fan blades, an intake diameter of over 2m and weighing 3267 kg, the RB211-22B allowed the new generation of 'Jumbo Jet' aircraft to take to the air, while bankrupting Rolls-Royce with its massive development costs. The key feature of this engine is the exceptionally large fan which drives a large volume of slow-moving air around the core engine, using fuel efficiently and reducing noise. The RB211 high-bypass engines were said to be so quiet on the TriStar's maiden flight that they could hardly be heard above the noise of the chasing fire engines.

Vickers VC10 flying test-bed. The two port engines removed to fit one RB211 on test.
Image from Rolls-Royce plc.

RB211-535

RB211-22 series
This is the first of the whole series which first saw service in 1972. It was specifically designed for the Lockheed L-1011. Its thrust rating is 42,000 pounds-force (169 kN). Being the pioneer three-shaft engine it underwent difficult gestation. However, it improved during service and matured into a reliable engine.

RB211-524 series
A development of the -22, it featured a very mature design. Its thrust rating is 50,000 to 60,600 pounds-force (222 to 270 kN). It was first fitted into Boeing 747 in 1977. Its excellent service record led it to be fitted to the improved Lockheed L-1011 in 1981.
An improved version, -524G rated at 58,000 pounds-force (258 kN) and -524H rated at 60,600 pounds-force (270 kN), featuring FADEC, was offered with Boeing 747-400 and Boeing 767. It is ETOPS 180-minutes rated for the 767. The -524G and H is the first to feature the wide-chord fan, which increases efficiency, reduces noise and gives added protection against foreign object damage. This was later adopted by GE and Pratt and Whitney for their engines.

Further improvements led to the -524G/H-T fitted to the 747-400 which is essentially remanufactured -524G and -524H fitted with the core

RB211-535 series
This is essentially a scaled down version of the -524. Its thrust range spans from 37,000 to 43,100 pounds-force (165 to 192 kN). It powers Boeing 757 and the Russian Tupolev Tu-204 airliner. It is 180-minute ETOPS rated. The later series shares common features with the later series -524 such as wide-chord fan and FADEC. The 535E-4 was proposed by Boeing for re-engining the B-52H Stratofortress, replacing the aircraft's eight TF33s with four of the turbofans.

Pratt & Whitney introduced the JT8D to commercial aviation in February 1964 with the inaugural flight of Boeing's 727-100 aircraft. Today, the eight models that comprise the JT8D standard engine family cover the thrust range from 14,000 to 17,400 pounds and power 727, 737, and DC-9 aircraft. More than 11,800 JT8D standard engines have been produced, accumulating over one-half billion hours of service operation..
A modern derivative, the -200 series, covers the 18,500- to 21,700-pound thrust range and is the exclusive power for the popular MD-80 series aircraft. Since starting service in 1980, more than 2,900 engines have been produced.
The -200 is also the exclusive power for the Super 27 re-engining program, in which Pratt & Whitney, in cooperation with Goodrich Aerostructures, is offering 727 operators a solution to achieve Stage 3/Chapter 3 compliance with improved performance. It involves replacing the two outboard engines with new JT8D-217C/219 models and adding noise suppression equipment to the center engine. The Super 27 can increase range up to 1,200 nautical miles and permits carrying up to 30 more passengers or up to 10,000 pounds in additional cargo.

www.pratt-whitney.com timeline

Pratt & Whitney's JT9D engine opened a new era in commercial aviation: the high-bypass-ratio engine to power wide-bodied aircraft. As Pratt & Whitney's first high-bypass-ratio turbofan, it introduced many advanced technologies in the areas of structures, aerodynamics and materials to maximize fuel efficiency and component durability.

Today, the JT9D family of engines consists of three distinct series. The JT9D-7 engine covers the 46,300- to 50,000-pound-thrust range, and the JT9D-7Q series has a 53,000 pound thrust rating. Later models, the -7R4 series, cover the 48,000- to 56,000-pound-thrust range. These three engine types power 747, 767, A300, A310 and DC-10 aircraft. For JT9D-7R4 twinjet installations, the engines are approved for 180-minute ETOPS (Extended-range Twin-engine Operations).

Although production ended in 1990, Pratt & Whitney continues to support the JT9D family. Upgrade programs are in place to enable operators to improve durability, increase thrust and reduce noise. With Pratt & Whitney's commitment to the JT9D program, these engines will continue to serve commercial aviation well into the 21st century.
 

In 1941, the U.S. Army Air Corps picked GE's Lynn, Massachusetts, plant to build a jet engine based on the design of Britain's Sir Frank Whittle. Six months later, on April 18, 1942, GE's engineers successfully ran the I-A engine.

In October, 1942, at Muroc Dry Lake, California, two I-A engines powered the historic first of a Bell XP-59A Airacomet aicraft, launching the United States into the Jet Age.

With the Korean War boosting demand, the J47 became the world's most produced gas turbine. More than 35,000 J47 engines were delivered by the end of the 1950s. That engine scored two major firsts: it was the first turbojet certified for civil use by the U.S. Civil Aeronautics Administration, and the first to use an electronically controlled afterburner to boost its thrust.
www.geae.com history

CFM International, is a 50/50 joint company of Snecma Moteurs of France and GE

In 1971, Snecma selected GE as a partner in the development of a smaller commercial turbofan engine. The companies established CFM International to build engines based on Snecma's fan technology and the core technology of GE's F101 engine. The GE/Snecma collaboration was founded on a desire to gain a share of the short-to-medium-range aircraft market, dominated in the early 1970s by low bypass engines. GE wanted to develop a powerplant to compete with the low bypass Pratt & Whitney JT8D engine on the Boeing 737-100/-200 and McDonnell Douglas DC-9 twinjets, as well as the Boeing 727 trijet.

Although CFM was formally established in 1974, the company did not receive its first order until 1979, when the CFM56-2 turbofan engine was selected to re-engine DC-8 Series 60 aircraft, reidentified as DC-8 Super 70s. Then the U.S. Air Force selected the military version of the CFM56-2, designated the F108 in this application, to re-engine its fleet of KC-135 tanker aircraft to the KC-135R configuration. With these landmark orders, the CFM56 was on its way.

www.geae.com cfm56

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