The GE Honda joint venture last Thursday fired up the first conforming version of its new 2,095-lb-thrust HF120 engine currently slated for certification in 2011. Initial engine tests are typically completed in a sea-level test cell, with high-altitude performance testing conducted onboard an aircraft. GE Honda used an altitude chamber for this first run because the choice allowed for considerably more instrumentation–600 separate measurements on this engine– to more thoroughly understand engine performance.
The altitude chamber also allows engineers to set any flight condition, including those outside the normal performance envelope, such as temperatures as low as minus 30 degrees C to as high as plus 130 degrees C. After several hundred test hours, the engine will be removed from the altitude chamber and run for another 500 cycles in a test bed at sea level to look for unexpected wear. Thirteen engines and cores will be used in the test program at six different sites in both the U.S. and Japan.
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