http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/ ... t-30-years

Not every company is short term focused. $10 billion, 30 years, 16% more fuel efficient, 75% less ground run noise.

How does that compare to the Williams of the same power WRT fuel burn, HSI, and OH?

Thanks for sharing!

Edit- I didn't realize we were talking about big engines, maybe next time I'll read it first.

Fan jets are just more and more becoming ducted turboprops. You can't beat the efficiency of a large prop that moves slower air. That's why the fanjet casings and bypass ratios have gone up every year. To the point where the new airliners can't even fit them under the wing without them dragging on the floor - both the A320Neo and the 737MAX have had to raise the gear and pylon to be able to fit the new engines.

If the engine has 16% better fuel specs and is reliable the maintenance costs will be irrelevant. 200gph times 3000 hours/year = 600k gallons per year. Save 100,000 gals of jet fuel per year (with more cargo payload) and you can pay a lot for overhauls.

And that is why modern "jets" are so much slower than the good ol' 707.... Lots of power to lift close to a thousand sardines in 10" seat spacing into the air, but once in cruise the drag of that giant wind tunnel dragged under the wing prohibits any speed close to Mach1.

I worked on this at Pratt & Whitney.

In 1996-97

Did you ever think it would see the light of day ?

Not quite, for the 737 Max they kept the main gear the same length but raised the nose gear something like 6" or 7".

I don't know anything about the A320 NEO except it looks better with the bigger jugs on those long skinny legs.

So, less pollution and quieter. This is what we call innovation and technology in 2015?

45 years ago we had a supersonic transport aircraft flying passengers, we had the SR-71 running around at Mach 3 and 80,000 feet, we had spacecraft capable of landing on the moon, we had the first business jets with climb performance better than their modern competitors ...

I'm sorry, but this is NOT groundbreaking or innovative. This just furthers the proof that we have become a society of spineless pansies.

Yeah...but you're forgetting we have Beechtalk and 45 years ago we didn't....so there !

+1

totally!!!

To whine about the lack of progress of others seems even worse.

It is easy to be Daniel Boone when there are unexplored forests. What would he do today?

Mike C.

That's an interesting thought. I would just add it is not just pansies, but practical pansies. It's not about raw brute force, being the fastest or sticking out your chest anymore. The age of the muscle car is gone. I have good friends at Safran and visited their amazing state of the art plant in Queretaro recently where they overhaul the CFM engine (1980s/90s technology). Average TBO is upward of 20-30 thousand hours. The record is a whopping 48,000 hours. Their research investment dollars are going at improving these numbers and lowering the cost of ownership which includes fuel burn. The Silvercrest engine they are about to launch will be a worthy competitor to what you perceive as P&W's boring breakthrough. It will be quieter, incredibly efficient and reliable, but will not set any world speed records.

The financial guys who pay the bills and their accountants have taken over. That is the world we live in.

Will we see either more high wing airliners or will they try the Honda OTWEM?

Ah the good old days. Can't imagine why we'd want to improve on this...