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CFM DEFENDS ITS NUMBER ONE POSITION

When the figures are this good, announcing them is a pleasure. Thus CFM President Gerard Laviec found himself reporting no fewer than 1,184 orders, over 1,030 delivered engines and a turnover of $6.7 billion for the year 2000. This means that the company has sold a total of 11,300 units to 333 customers. CFM's market share of aircraft orders in the 100+ seat market in 2000 rose from 48% to 54%. Although Laviec believes that the present high levels of sales will be sustained until 2003, the company does not intend to rest on its laurels. The strategists are seeking out new applications such as supplying the CFM56-5B for the Airbus A318 or the CFM56-7B for the airborne early warning version of the 737 (AEW&C) and are also studying possible requirements for CFM-powered Ilyushin Il-76 freighters. In the search for new opportunities they are taking a particularly close look at Brazil, Japan and the United Kingdom. At the same time the company is improving customer service in the area of E-Business. Customers can now order spare parts or retrieve the entire technical documentation on-line 24 hours a day.

CFM56-5C

The manufacturer is also modernising older models such as the CFM56-3 using the core of the CFM56-7. This will result in a 15-oC drop in exhaust temperature and a 1% reduction in fuel consumption. Certification is planned for the second quarter of 2002. In the 5A version, the durability of the blades in the high-pressure compressor stage is to be improved through use of a thermodynamic coating. The modification will be available from the second quarter of this year. In the CFM56-5B that is udes on the Airbus A321, the noise limits that will be in force from 2006 are to be undercut by incorporating a new chevron type exhaust nozzle. Tests will commence in November 2001.

As a new product the designers are developing the CFM56-5C/P for the A340 Enhanced. It is based on the CFM56-5C4, but its core comes from the CFM56-5B/P, while it also possesses a redesigned first stage in the low-pressure turbine and new high-pressure turbine blades. The advantages put forward by the development team include a 1.1% fuel burn improvement and 10% lower maintenance costs.

As part of the TECH56 research programme, the company is currently testing a modified CFM56-5C with hollow, swept wide-chord fan blades. Trials with the new high-pressure compressor, which has forward swept rotors and consists of only six stages instead of nine, and has 968 blades instead of 1,518, have also begun. Finally, the engineers are studying an emission-reducing Twin Annular Pre-Swirl (TAPS) combustor, which is being tested on a modified CFM56. The lessons learnt from the TECH56 technology acquisition programme were originally aimed at a new generation of engines, but there is currently little interest at either Airbus or Boeing. Therefore CFM intends to include the new technology in upgrades to individual components, if requested.

From page 84 of FLUG REVUE 5/2001