Engines
Snecma Tests Open Rotor
Snecma is preparing a high-speed-test to demonstrate the open rotor’s fuel burn advantage.
Snecma is preparing a high-speed-test to demonstrate the open rotor’s fuel burn advantage.

Snecma is about to carry out further tests on a one-fifth scale model of an open rotor engine, in a research and technology effort that epitomizes how laborious developing a new commercial engine concept can be. The concept, based on counter-rotating high-speed propellers, may not find itself in service before 2025, but the objective is to cut fuel burn by 25 to 30 percent compared to the CFM56 (Snecma’s current narrowbody engine, produced in conjunction with GE).