CAPSLOCKSTUCK
Spaced Out Lunar Tick
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2013
- Messages
- 8,578 (2.00/day)
- Location
- llaregguB...WALES
System Name | Party On |
---|---|
Processor | Xeon w 3520 |
Motherboard | DFI Lanparty |
Cooling | Big tower thing |
Memory | 6 gb Ballistix Tracer |
Video Card(s) | HD 7970 |
Case | a plank of wood |
Audio Device(s) | seperate amp and 6 big speakers |
Power Supply | Corsair |
Mouse | cheap |
Keyboard | under going restoration |
footage has revealed the moment that the world's biggest jet engine took to the skies for the first time, ahead of its planned maiden commercial flight in 2020.
The huge GE9X powerplant, which is as wide and tall as the fuselage of a Boeing 737, is being built for the latest version of the firm's long-haul 777, the 777X 'megaplane'.
General Electric has now begun flight trials of the prototype, after delays caused by technical problems stopped tests originally planned for late last year.
The GE9X was attached to the plane alongside smaller engines to allow engineers to put it through the motions of flight without risking the safety of passengers onboard.
It features a massive fan stretching 134 inches in diameter, more than 11 feet, and fits into a 14-and-a-half-foot nacelle.
A special Boeing 747 test aircraft flew from Victorville, California, for four hours with the new GE9X engine mounted under its left wing, dwarfing the plane's three other engines.
The engine will eventually power the 777X, a plane that will have the widest wingspan of any aircraft: 235 feet, five inches (71.8 metres), making it wider than four 53-foot (16-metre) semi-truck trailers parked end to end.
It is so big, Boeing has developed hinges on its wingtips. The hinges will fold up, allowing the plane to shorten its wingspan when it's rolling across airport taxiways, the first design of its kind on any commercial airliner.
The hinged wingtips will measure 12 feet, and locking pins will prevent them from folding during flight, Boeing told CNN.
Inside, the 777-9X will seat at least 400 passengers, 34 more than the 777-9X's competitor - the Airbus A350-1000.
The 777-9X cabin will be 16 inches (40 centimeters) wider than the A350-1000, Boeing says, allowing economy-class seat widths up to 18 inches (46 centimeters).
Boeing asked General Electric to develop an engine strong enough to power its 777X aircraft family, a new version of the 777 'mini-jumbo' with up to 406 seats.
It will have the largest front fan in the world, GE says, at 134 inches (11 feet) in diameter, while its inlet duct measures 18 feet (215 inches) by 12 feet (145 inches).
Ultra heat-resistant materials known as ceramic matrix composites (CMC) in the combustor and turbine can operate at temperatures up to 1,300°C (2,400°F).
This allows the firm's engineers to keep the heat higher inside the engine, without having to burn through fuel or emissions.
The advancement in 3D printing has also contributed to this cutting-edge engine, by allowing engineers to create more complex shapes, which were once impossible - including 3D printed fuel nozzles.
The new GE9X engine has 16 fourth-generation carbon-fibre fan blades at the front of the engine and feed air to the 11-stage high-pressure compressor. According to the firm, no other commercial engine has a pressure ration (27:1) that's higher.
Engineers also installed a fourth fuel tank to keep the engine from going thirsty.
Although GE9X has an impressive thrust generator of 100,000, the engine's predecessor, the GE90-115B, holds the record of 127,500 pounds.
The huge GE9X powerplant, which is as wide and tall as the fuselage of a Boeing 737, is being built for the latest version of the firm's long-haul 777, the 777X 'megaplane'.
General Electric has now begun flight trials of the prototype, after delays caused by technical problems stopped tests originally planned for late last year.
The GE9X was attached to the plane alongside smaller engines to allow engineers to put it through the motions of flight without risking the safety of passengers onboard.
It features a massive fan stretching 134 inches in diameter, more than 11 feet, and fits into a 14-and-a-half-foot nacelle.
A special Boeing 747 test aircraft flew from Victorville, California, for four hours with the new GE9X engine mounted under its left wing, dwarfing the plane's three other engines.
The engine will eventually power the 777X, a plane that will have the widest wingspan of any aircraft: 235 feet, five inches (71.8 metres), making it wider than four 53-foot (16-metre) semi-truck trailers parked end to end.
It is so big, Boeing has developed hinges on its wingtips. The hinges will fold up, allowing the plane to shorten its wingspan when it's rolling across airport taxiways, the first design of its kind on any commercial airliner.
The hinged wingtips will measure 12 feet, and locking pins will prevent them from folding during flight, Boeing told CNN.
Inside, the 777-9X will seat at least 400 passengers, 34 more than the 777-9X's competitor - the Airbus A350-1000.
The 777-9X cabin will be 16 inches (40 centimeters) wider than the A350-1000, Boeing says, allowing economy-class seat widths up to 18 inches (46 centimeters).
Boeing asked General Electric to develop an engine strong enough to power its 777X aircraft family, a new version of the 777 'mini-jumbo' with up to 406 seats.
It will have the largest front fan in the world, GE says, at 134 inches (11 feet) in diameter, while its inlet duct measures 18 feet (215 inches) by 12 feet (145 inches).
Ultra heat-resistant materials known as ceramic matrix composites (CMC) in the combustor and turbine can operate at temperatures up to 1,300°C (2,400°F).
This allows the firm's engineers to keep the heat higher inside the engine, without having to burn through fuel or emissions.
The advancement in 3D printing has also contributed to this cutting-edge engine, by allowing engineers to create more complex shapes, which were once impossible - including 3D printed fuel nozzles.
The new GE9X engine has 16 fourth-generation carbon-fibre fan blades at the front of the engine and feed air to the 11-stage high-pressure compressor. According to the firm, no other commercial engine has a pressure ration (27:1) that's higher.
Engineers also installed a fourth fuel tank to keep the engine from going thirsty.
Although GE9X has an impressive thrust generator of 100,000, the engine's predecessor, the GE90-115B, holds the record of 127,500 pounds.