Mumbai: If the Airbus 380 is by far the biggest aircraft on earth, the GE 90 from General Electric has the most powerful airplane engine.
It is massive yet ranks high on fuel-efficiency and not only that, it has a high capacity and is less polluting. So, welcome the next generation of airline engines.
Capable of 1,15,000 pounds thrust and a height of 171 inches this engineering wonder is definitely a killer.
At 27,000 pounds it is no surprise that this monster, which requires a floor space of 39 feet, required GE to design a special dolly that can enable shipping, transportation as well as its assembly as a single unit.
“Just getting this massive engine up and running is a task in its own but think of the sheer size and then transporting and assembling it. The advantage is its technology that allows only the propellor to be replaced, which is a huge advantage considering the size,” Deputy General Manager, Engine Overhauls, Air India, JN Mohanty said.
With Air India training it's own maintenance engineers, the art of tweaking this engine now aims to not only install and service these engines on it's own but also aims to emerge as a one-stop service provider for these engines in Asia.
“Our MRO facility has all the European as well as American accreditations. We have also trained our staff to handle the GE90. Our aim is to develop this facility further more and after servicing our own needs also extend this facility to other players in the Asian region including domestic ones,” Director of Engineering, Air India, KM Unni said.
The engine at the Air India maintenance facility is only a spare one and while Jet Airways has already started operating the 777-300ER on it's Mumbai-New York route, for Air India the wait will be over in June end when it receives it's first batch of 777s in Mumbai.
source : IBN
It is massive yet ranks high on fuel-efficiency and not only that, it has a high capacity and is less polluting. So, welcome the next generation of airline engines.
Capable of 1,15,000 pounds thrust and a height of 171 inches this engineering wonder is definitely a killer.
At 27,000 pounds it is no surprise that this monster, which requires a floor space of 39 feet, required GE to design a special dolly that can enable shipping, transportation as well as its assembly as a single unit.
“Just getting this massive engine up and running is a task in its own but think of the sheer size and then transporting and assembling it. The advantage is its technology that allows only the propellor to be replaced, which is a huge advantage considering the size,” Deputy General Manager, Engine Overhauls, Air India, JN Mohanty said.
With Air India training it's own maintenance engineers, the art of tweaking this engine now aims to not only install and service these engines on it's own but also aims to emerge as a one-stop service provider for these engines in Asia.
“Our MRO facility has all the European as well as American accreditations. We have also trained our staff to handle the GE90. Our aim is to develop this facility further more and after servicing our own needs also extend this facility to other players in the Asian region including domestic ones,” Director of Engineering, Air India, KM Unni said.
The engine at the Air India maintenance facility is only a spare one and while Jet Airways has already started operating the 777-300ER on it's Mumbai-New York route, for Air India the wait will be over in June end when it receives it's first batch of 777s in Mumbai.
source : IBN