LE BOURGET – Development of the GE-P&W Engine Alliance’s GP7200 engine, recently launched by Air France on the Airbus A380-800, is moving on schedule with the completion of successful core and fan tests.In April, the second full-scale core engine test was completed at GE’s Evendale, Ohio, altitude simulation facility. The core ran for more than 160 hours, meeting all performance requirements and exceeding projected operability characteristics. Testing of another engine core build is planned for 2002.In addition, successful testing of a 42-percent scale GP7200 swept wide chord fan was recently completed at Pratt & Whitney facilities in Longueuil, Quebec. The tests validated performance improvements of the 3-D aerodynamic design.”Completion of the GP7200 core and swept fan tests solidifies our confidence that the GP7200 will meet or exceed all performance requirements for the A380 aircraft,” said Lloyd Thompson, president of the GE-P&W Engine Alliance.Technology maturation programs will continue until early 2003, when the Engine Alliance is scheduled to begin detailed design work. The first full engine test is planned for 2004, and joint certification by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and European Joint Airworthiness Authorities is expected in mid-2005.First flight of the GP7200-powered A380 is scheduled for early 2006, with aircraft certification and entry into service planned for the end of that year.The A380 has a capacity of up to 555 passengers and a range of up to 8,000 nautical miles. The GP7200 will be certified at 81,500 pounds (362 kN) takeoff thrust to meet potential aircraft growth requirements. The engine is initially being offered at three ratings: the GP7268 at 68,000 pounds (302 kN); the GP7270 at 70,000 pounds (311 kN); and the GP7277 at 77,000 pounds (342 kN). The engine will enter service with Air France at the GP7270 thrust rating.All models will have a 116-inch-diameter fan with wide-chord, hollow titanium blades, a bypass ratio of 9 to 1, and an overall pressure ratio of 46 to 1. The engine will also incorporate a nine-stage, high-pressure compressor (HPC), a scaled derivative of the GE90 HPC. The GP7200 has a single annular combustor designed to limit emissions to 40 percent below the 1998 standards set by the ICAO, and a two-stage, high-pressure turbine (HPT) equally scaled (same scale factor as the HPC) from the GE90. Other design features include a five-stage low-pressure compressor and six-stage low-pressure turbine with advanced technology, derived from the PW4000 family.Within the GE-P&W Engine Alliance, Pratt & Whitney is responsible for the design and fabrication of the fan, LPC, LPT, and gear train, and GE Aircraft Engines is responsible for the engine core (HPC, HPT, and combustor) and control system. MTU of Germany and Snecma Moteurs of France are also revenue-sharing participants in the GP7200 program.