Monday, August 10, 2015

P&W discloses new engine option for CSeries

Pratt & Whitney is rolling out a new, higher-thrust version of the PW1500G engine for the Bombardier CSeries aircraft family in the next two to three months.

The new PW1525G will become the fourth engine option for the CS100 and the third option available for the CS300.

P&W is developing the new version of the engine to offer up to 5% higher thrust when the aircraft is moving faster than roughly Mach 0.1 and at the maximum continuous thrust rating in flight.

In static conditions, when the aircraft is not moving, the PW1525G will generate the same thrust as the PW1524G, which is rated to deliver up to 23,300lb thrust.

The additional thrust requires no hardware changes within the engine.

“We have a certain amount of design margin we have found in the engine,” Graham Webb, vice-president of PW1000G-series engines, tells Flightglobal.

But running the engine at the higher rating will expose the components to hotter temperatures, so maintenance costs will increase, Webb says.

A new software update for the PW1500G engine fleet is scheduled for release in September or October, and that version will enable the higher-thrust capability of the PW1525G, he says. The precise timing will depend on approval by Transport Canada.

The PW1525G option – first disclosed in a Bombardier sales brochure posted online in July – will allow a CSeries operator to carry a heavier load of passengers and cargo, or more range or some combination of the two.

It is revealed only two months after Bombardier announced a 5% increase in the maximum range for the CS100 and CS300, which rose to 3,100nm (5,741km) and 3,300nm, respectively.

The 108-seat CS100 is entering the last five months of an extended, 2.5-year flight testing phase, with delivery to launch operator Swiss International Air Lines scheduled for early next year.

As the performance of the aircraft shows steady improvement over original promises, a new group of Bombardier leaders are attempting to sign new orders. The company is in talks with about six potential customers, Bombardier chief executive Alain Bellemare told market analysts in late July.

(Stephen Trimble - Flightglobal News)

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