Engines
R-R forges ahead on open rotors
Rolls-Royce’s development of an open-rotor engine for the next generation of midsize airliners has taken a giant leap forward after wind-tunnel tests revea

Rolls-Royce’s development of an open-rotor engine for the next generation of midsize airliners has taken a giant leap forward after wind-tunnel tests revealed its design would comfortably meet current Stage 4 noise regulations.

“We’ve moved from a physics problem to an engineering challenge,” said Robert Nuttal, vice president for strategic marketing at Rolls-Royce. “Acceptable noise was the first of the five major open-rotor issues we wanted to de-risk.” He told AIN that the other four–the gearbox, blades, pitch change mechanism and aircraft/engine integration, “can all be solved.”