The largest jet engine....IN DE VOOORLD!

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 12/04/2017 at 15:45 • Filed to: wingspan, Planelopnik

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GE will soon begin flight testing the largest high-bypass turbofan in the world, the GE9X. Developed from the GE90, the GE9X, with a fan diameter of just over 11 feet and providing 105,000 lbf of thrust, is expected to deliver a fuel savings of 10-percent over its GE90-115B predecessor. The GE9X was developed to power the Boeing 777X, which Boeing !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! as the largest and most efficient twin-engine airliner in the world. To match the gargantuan size of the engines, the 777's composite wings will have a span of 236 feet (72 meters) and will feature folding wingtips to allow it to park at existing airport gates. The two variants slated for production, the 777-8 and 777-9, will accommodate 365 and 414 passengers respectively.

Boeing

GE is currently carrying out environmental and ETOPS static testing to achieve certification, and, in November, one engine was mounted to a modified Boeing 747 testbed for flight testing. To fit the huge engine, the 747 was given longer struts, larger tires, and a specially modified pylon. Even with these modifications, the massive GE9X has only 18 inches of ground clearance. Flight testing is scheduled to begin in late 2017, and the 777X is slated for rollout in 2019, with orders placed for 20 aircraft so far.

Boeing

The GE9X being transported for testing (GE)

OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars > ttyymmnn 12/04/2017 at 15:47

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That is a very, very large bird grinder.

OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars > OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars 12/04/2017 at 15:49

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LOREM IPSUM > ttyymmnn 12/04/2017 at 15:55

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Anyone else wonder why GE can’t make a competitive consumer electronic to save their life, but they can somehow make competitive jet engines that, best as I can tell, are neither general nor electric?

It would be like Lada producing the worlds most powerful super-computer, or something.

ttyymmnn > LOREM IPSUM 12/04/2017 at 15:57

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They’ve been making toasters longer than they’ve been making jet engines (though they were there in the earliest days of jet flight), but I guess there’s more money in jet engines.

TorqueToYield > LOREM IPSUM 12/04/2017 at 15:57

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GE sold off the parts of their business that make anything you could buy from a normal retailer years ago. GE appliances are owned by Haier.  

wafflesnfalafel > ttyymmnn 12/04/2017 at 16:00

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crazy - looks like it has a chunk of 737 fuselage hanging off the wing

ttyymmnn > wafflesnfalafel 12/04/2017 at 16:01

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As it is, the engine on the 787 is just about the same diameter as the fuselage of the 737. And this engine is bigger.

HammerheadFistpunch > ttyymmnn 12/04/2017 at 16:10

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Thats almost comically big. Like a caricature of a jet engine. It puts into perspective what kind of power that is, and what it takes to fly a plane. We kinda see planes as somewhere between heavy trucks and ships in terms of power output because of their relative size but turbines this size are HUGE amounts of power. As an example, the lesser GE90 based LM9000 marine turbine puts out 87,000 hp (75 mw). 2 of these would put out 150 mw of power. Google says 45mw powers a town of about 80,000 so 150 mw is a town of over a quarter million people. We really don’t comprehend how much power a jet engine has on account of how commonplace they are.

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > LOREM IPSUM 12/04/2017 at 16:15

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nope.... im just wondering if i could fit that engine to ballabans yugo...

should really make the wee bugger fly

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > HammerheadFistpunch 12/04/2017 at 16:18

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That really puts it into perspective, wow.

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > LOREM IPSUM 12/04/2017 at 16:18

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for the last forty years or so GE electronics and appliances have been a lovely tax haven for the military/industrial wing of the company that makes guns, missiles, jet engines, and nuclear reactors... They recently just dropped the pretense and sold the (largely unprofitable) appliance division to Haier.

ttyymmnn > HammerheadFistpunch 12/04/2017 at 16:21

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It is my understanding, and I hope somebody corrects me if I’m wrong, that once those big birds get to cruise altitude they are being driven almost entirely by the pull of the fan alone.

HammerheadFistpunch > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs 12/04/2017 at 16:22

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its nutty really.

HammerheadFistpunch > ttyymmnn 12/04/2017 at 16:27

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Well by bypass ratio alone (10:1) you can kinda guess that the fan is producing a lot of the thrust. Still, it takes a lot of HP to turn a 134 inch fan.

Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now) > ttyymmnn 12/04/2017 at 16:49

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174” fairing... holy crap

ttyymmnn > Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now) 12/04/2017 at 16:53

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The obvious next step in engine development:

facw > Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now) 12/04/2017 at 17:58

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The fan itself if 13', the same diameter as the cabin on a DC-9

ranwhenparked > LOREM IPSUM 12/04/2017 at 19:18

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They don’t. GE consumer appliances and electronics are made by various companies that either license the trademark or subcontract to Haier.

f86sabre > ttyymmnn 12/04/2017 at 21:17

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That sucks.

Then it blows.

user314 > ttyymmnn 12/05/2017 at 12:36

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Back to the future :

ttyymmnn > user314 12/05/2017 at 12:40

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That a/c was actually so stable that it was difficult to fly.

dsigned001 - O.R.C. hunter > LOREM IPSUM 12/05/2017 at 21:55

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Profit margins and subsidies. Their turbine department is effectively subsidized by military contracts, whereas their consumer electronics department is not. And the profit margin on a jet engine that only two or three companies in the world can compete on, versus a toaster which can be made by anybody with access to industrial design, a heating coil and thermoplastic injection (which is basically the whole world).  

RacinBob > LOREM IPSUM 06/12/2020 at 13:18

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I think of GE as a company that can do really amazing things that other companies can’t. Think of jet engines, catscan machines etc. So if you can do that, pick markets that are growing, where your customers are profitable and where you can get a near monopoly.

Aircraft engines are one of those busi ne sses, toasters are not. Neither are electrical services products like distribution transformers anymore.   

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > ttyymmnn 06/17/2020 at 09:17

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They licensed the brand off years ago...