CFM International’s advanced LEAP-1B engine was simultaneously awarded Type Certificates by both the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on May 4, 2016, paving the way for the engine’s entry into commercial service in 2017.
CFM is the only engine manufacturer to gain dual original certification from both agencies, rather than one lead agency issuing a type certification and the second agency validating that.
The LEAP-1B engine flew for the first time on the Boeing 737 MAX on January 29, 2016. Since then, two more aircraft have been added to the test program in March and, to date, these three airplanes have logged a combined total of more than 100 test flights, including completing high altitude flight testing in La Paz, Bolivia, recently.
The LEAP-1B engine features 3-D woven carbon fiber composite fan blades and fan case; a unique debris rejection system; fourth generation three-dimensional aerodynamic designs; the Twin-Annular, Pre-Swirl (TAPS) combustor featuring additively manufactured fuel nozzles; ceramics matrix composite shrouds in the high-pressure turbine; and titanium aluminide (Ti-Al) blades in the low-pressure turbine.
May 6, 2016
