Engines
Silvercrest still on target for 2011
Though still without a launch program for its new 9,500- to 12,000-pound thrust engine, Snecma reports good progress in developing its new Silvercrest powe

Though still without a launch program for its new 9,500- to 12,000-pound thrust engine, Snecma reports good progress in developing its new Silvercrest powerplant family for large business jets and small regional airliners. By the end of March, the company’s engineering team had completed tests on the engine core demonstrator with some 80 hours in test rigs at its Villaroche facility near Paris. Snecma intended this phase of the $100 million development, which began in December, to validate the engine’s design and core performance.

Ignition and initial core runs have reached up to 19,800 rpm, representing 85 percent of takeoff thrust. Snecma engineers have also reported positive results from work on rotor blade characteristics, the high-pressure compressor and turbine, as well as tip clearances, compressor pressure ratios and stall margins.

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